


Play With Fire

by missjeonghanista



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Angst, Arson, Character Death, Flowers, M/M, Mafia AU, Mind Manipulation, Poetry, Superpowers, This is very sad sorry, Why Did I Write This?, approach with caution, people are dying left and right, seventeen in a criminal syndicate, this is one of the early fics, will regret this later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-09-18 05:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16989279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missjeonghanista/pseuds/missjeonghanista
Summary: They're sorcerers.But they cannot be burn.They're criminals.But they never hurt.They're family.But they're not related.They're happy.But it won't last.What happens when something impossible occurs?When one burns, one hurts, and two are related?-or-"We can't do this.""Why not?""The same blood that runs in you runs in me."





	1. The Devil

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by this amazing edit, check it out: https://youtu.be/5CLWwofixaI

"You fucking son of a bitch!! I'm going to kill you!!" Jung Yehwa shouted as she slammed her hands on her table. The man in front of him simply chuckled, unaffected. When the female police officer leant down to his level, she saw that he was actually smirking.

_As if it meant nothing._

"I already told you, officer...Jung. It's better if you don't know who I am." He said darkly, never once giving the impression that he was scared of her. Yehwa nearly spit at his pretty face but seeing the looks the older officers gave her, she decided to straighten her posture instead.

"Yah, newbie. Put this one in the small cell. Let's see if starvation can make you speak." She threatened. The guy only nodded his head, and followed the new officer obediently.

Jung Yehwa walked out of the station for a quick break before she had to go on patrol. Just as she was walking out, something made her turn and it sent chills down her spine. She was sure of it. She heard it clearly but there was no one there.

_Bitch._

She quickly shrugged it off, maybe the late night shifts were starting to get to her. She was sure she has overexerted herself. After all, having a pretty face and bein the second youngest in the station came with more cons than pro.

"Officer Ha, where are you going?" She asked the one senior officer who never gave her a cold shoulder. Perhaps because he knew how handsome he was. Ha Youngwoo seemed to be a bit taken aback by her greeting and took his time to break into a smile.

"Dinner. Do you want to join me? You're losing too much weight... Don't push yourself too much." Yehwa blushed at Youngwoo's words. Her senior was a handsome figure of course, but friendliness never was his virtue. _Maybe all my flirting is paying off,_ she thought enthusiastically.

"Sure, Officer Ha. Are you buying?" She added teasingly. The male beside her simply smiled.

**

"Okay, operation is a go! I repeat operation is a go!" Dino's overexcited voice over the line caused Wonwoo to tsked beside Mingyu. The younger guy simply smiled at the cold and handsome older man, before they proceeded to enter the police station.

"Hoshi, are you done or not?!" Woozi's scolding tone on the line only caused the one on the other end to be even more pissed off as he sprayed the liquid everywhere.

"I'm done." He said curtly and Woozi bit his lip at his boyfriend's angry reply. It also made him feel all hot and bothered, but now was not the time for that.

Mingyu flashed a smile at the officers who never really paid much attention to the water delivery guys.

They should have.

Beside him, Wonwoo jammed his cap further down his face as he quickly swiped the cell's keys off the waist of a burly-looking 40-something official in the split two seconds Mingyu provided for him. He would've scowled at the younger for such short window of time but he knew any more time would only raise more suspicion.

"Hoshi, now." Woozi instructed calmly. Hoshi took a deep breath before letting out a soft chuckle.

"Let this motherfucking dump be lit." As he dropped the lighter onto the gasoline.

Fire spread faster than they could imagined in the records room, and Hoshi had to stifle his laughter at the officer whose falsetto voice could rival DK's as he alarmed the whole place. The officers ran away from their little cubicles, some calling the fire department while others tried to play hero by making sure everyone had went to safety.

"The8, DK, do your thing." Woozi ordered after 10 seconds of the start of the fire. The8 took a long, deep breath and blew the fire up, making it crawl to the ceiling and blasted the records room door open. DK opened his mouth....and nothing happened.

Well, the signal did got jammed and the fire department scowled at the apparet false alarm because the caller suddenly hung up the phone. Woozi's signals to the police station's CCTV also got disrupted, but he was already used to the situation.

•Josh. What's the password?• Jun asked telephatically. Almost immediately Joshua gave him a series of numbers and he frowned as he entered it one by one into Jung Yehwa's computer. His face shaped a pretty, smirking smile once he deleted the file he needed to.

In the far corner of the station, metal bars clanged as they slid open and the guy who refused to be named ruffled his saviour's hair. "What took you guys too long?" He chuckled as he walked through the fire, unharmed.

"Hyung!"Mingyu yelled as he tried to retain his expensive hair-do. Wonwoo shrugged as the other struggled and said, "The cap already destroyed it, though." Mingyu glared at the guy as the criminal laughed.

"Shouldn't this be more grand?" The criminal asked as he clapped his hands a few times. Suddenly, the fire started to change colour, from orange and yellow to blue and green. Even Mingyu and Wonwoo were starting to sweat yet the criminal seemed relaxed in the centre of it all.

"Hyung!" Seungkwan yelled on the line. Woozi instinctively closed his eyes at the sharp tone. "You're lucky that we're done." Seungkwan grumbled.

The criminal laughed louder when Mingyu told him what Seungkwan said as they walked through the fire to the main entrance of the station.

"Jung Yehwa, where were you?!" The station police chief shouted once he saw the light brown ponytail Yehwa sported.

"Di... dinner.." She stuttered and the chief held her sides tightly. "Did you put that guy who doesn't want to talk in cell even though he's just under suspicion?!" The chief yelled. That was when the fire suddenly turned blue and Yehwa watched in horror as her workplace began burning to the ground.

There in the center of it all, a handsome, smirking face with large, liquid brown eyes stared right at her.

"That is him." Yehwa whispered as the chief turned to the three figures and fell to kneel at the ground.

As if praying, almost all the officers did. Yehwa watched as the guy smirked at the crowd and walked right back into the fire.

_As if he was the devil himself._

**


	2. The Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The simmering of the plot has started.  
> Believe me, the fire will burn.

The devil, of course, existed with a name. A name that only those who roamed the darkest, farthest corners of South Korea's underworld would know.

The Prince of Fire, Yoon Jeonghan.

Smack! Jeonghan groaned first before he even turned around, already knowing who was the one that smacked a book on his head.

"Yargh, Hong Jisoo!" Jeonghan shouted. The owner of the name tensed and smacked him with the magazine he was holding again.

"What's with that funfair-like display? Are you crazy? We do what we have to do. We don't attract unnecessary attention. Do I have to teach even _you_ about this?" Joshua almost sneered, his usually polite and warm voice turning cold and almost cackling.

Jeonghan was far from intimidated.

"That's where the fun is, Joshuji. It's not like anyone was hurt." Jeonghan shrugged.

Jisoo sighed and shoved Jeonghan to the side as he took his place in the van which was beside The8, the driver. The journey back to the mansion was quiet and tense, even the occasional pop of Dino's bubblegum made Wonwoo annoyed.

Jeonghan eyed the unofficial chief of Seventeen out of the corner of his eyes. He pouted as he slumped against the heat-resisting body of the van. If he tried a bit harder, he could burn a Jeonghan-shaped hole right there right then, but even he knew not to push Joshua past the brink of rationale.

Jeonghan looked up at the mansion once the van stopped and couldn't hide that giddy happiness in him from being back home.

Home sweet home.

The butler bowed low as 13 rambunctious kids trampled down the marble floor he had painstakingly mopped and wiped to make it glisten. One of them let his hands wandered to the priceless decorative silvers, leaving fingerprints everywhere. It made his blood boil but once he spotted the 13th pair of feet, the simple yet intricate Oxford shoes, he smiled.

"Welcome home, Master Jeonghan." The owner of the house nodded his head solemnly as Joshua walked past him to the living room.

"Stop wandering around and sit here." Joshua ordered in that low voice again. Even Vernon, who had been adamant to sleep before doing anything else, scowled as he walked right back down the staircases he just climbed.

"We can't pull a reckless mission like that again." Joshua said softly in front of the 11 boys who each looked as bored as the other. In fact the only face who seemed concerned was Woozi's.

"Jisoo hyung is right, guys. Today's mission was too risky. What would've happened if Seungkwan and Vernon didn't manage to save everyone in time? What if Joshua didn't get the information from that police officer when the fire already started? What if the police officer didn't even meet Joshua because _someone_ whispered things that he shouldn't have?" Woozi grumbled as he stared at Jun. Jun glared back and Woozi rolled his eyes.

"And Yoon Jeonghan. What the fuck was that? You know better than to get caught! What the hell were you doing in Gangnam,anyway? And don't think I didn't notice a certain burning apartment earlier tonight." Joshua scolded through gritted teeth.

Jeonghan stood up and looked at the faces of the boys he had deemed family since they met over the span of the past two years. Most were curious, but he could see the seething rage in Joshua's eyes, perhpas clearer than even the owner. He started with a deep breath and looked straight to Joshua as he spoke.

"The apartment that I burned was...my mother's. My biological one. It took a while but I finally got to meet her. Or a least where she used to be. She died last week. Cancer. That was how I got her address. Because of her death registration. So I...I went to the apartment and...I...I just burnt it all down. My mind was all over the place and I didn't hear the sound of police siren until I was already in handcuffs." Jeonghan heard a disbelieving chuckle and knew just from who it came, but he ignored it. For now.

"I'm sorry that this emergency 'save Jeonghan' mission had to be done, and I'm thankul that you guys rescued me. And yeah, I know it's stupid to do funfair-like display like I did but...I... I was just caught up in the moment. I swear." Jeonghan said as Joshua looked up and their eyes locked.

Jeonghan gave him a little smile, and he could see melancholy in it though he was not sure what it was for. There was also that voice at the back of his mind.

_Just how many boys have you tricked with that smile?_

Joshua didn't think he wanted to know the answer to that. Instead, Joshua looked around to all the others and asked about their mission. Most of them were just fine and satisfied, Seungkwan still furious about Jeonghan's lack of control over his power or rather his mischief tendency, but all the other boys simply welcomed the oldest among them back with open arms.

Jun didn't seem all too happy but it must've had something to do with the fact that he was called up from his favourite spot in town for the mission.

Joshua wondered sometimes why did Jun loved spending so much time in the abandoned theathre he bought about four months ago.

Maybe it was the almost haunting silence. _Or maybe it's all the ghosts there._

Joshua looked at the Chinese guy again, at the deep dark bags under his eyes and the tight line of his lips as he hugged himself with that glare again.

Maybe it was the ghosts. He wouldn't have known, anyway.

**


	3. The Alpha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their individual powers and Choi Seungcheol. This one is prettty damn long but i gotta put it out. Next chap will have some movement~

"Choi Seungcheol, I heard your team was quite out of the ordinary. Some might even say they're _super_. Care to explain?" The head of the notorious crime syndicate; Pledis, smirked as he watched the rebels leader squirmed under those ropes that he had intricately knotted himself.

"You want to know about them? You'll regret it." Seungcheol spoke unformally and with that lopsided smirk. Han Seung-soo, the idiot that left too much messes for him and his group to settle, seethed as he gritted his teeth.

"You'll lose a limb for every member that you don't tell me about. So tell me, Seungcheol. How much does those fucking boys worth to you?" He cackled and Seungcheol smirk turned to a cold, steel hard glare.

"I'll tell you all about them. But don't blame me later." Seungcheol's threat made something tremble in Seung-soo but the tough demeanor and that wicked grin stayed intact.

"Joshua. We call him The Mask. He can, after all turns into anyone he wants. And we're not talking just the physical. Mannerism, way of walking, way of talking, down to his personal preferences, Joshua can know it all. Through a picture or through eye contact. Of course, things like memories and secrets can't be revealed that easily."

"Jun. Some of us like to call him, Prof. Xavier. He's telephatic and not only with humans. Animals, plants, the undead. Jun can infiltrate the minds of those close to him. And also those who stare into his eyes. He could know memories that you don't even remember and if he chooses to, he can twist them to be a constant nightmare."

"Wonwoo has the ability to control your nerves. Basically, you can't feel it if he touches you, or feel pain when he scratches you. He can play with your body as if it's your own. We call him a Bloodbender, which somehow is the accurate way to say it."

"Woozi is a genius. He sees and connects things better than anyone can. He sees the flaw in every single plan. When he's the strategist, a foolproof plan looks like child's play to him. He once jokes that something he does now can prevent an apocalypse long after we're all dead."

"Hoshi is cut from the same cloth as Joker. Crazy,manipulative but with not one evil intention. He's the bravest of us and the craziest. After all, he survived when you sent 30 of your people to kill him, right?"

Seungcheol almost laughed at Seungsoo's shaken expression. Seungsoo remembered that day clearly. The day when he saw Hoshi with bloody teeth and bare hands escaped his well-crafted trap. He remembered the blood that splashed to the ceiling, not a drop of the one that he wanted dead. No, the blood that pooled on the floor and stained the legs of his trousers were those who accepted his order.

"Should I continue? Or would you just surrender to us already?" Seungcheol asked cheekily, that little evil grin back to his face. When Seungsoo didn't respond, Seungcheol shrugged and said,

"It's a pleasure for me to tell about them. Not so much for you knowing they're coming for you, right? Next is The8, he controls the wind. A light drizzle can be a storm, a gust of wind can be a hurricane. He worsens the weather in ways you can't even imagine. And he makes things brighter, so much brighter." Seungcheol paused, thinking if he should let Seungsoo in their biggest secret now. But no.

_Let's save the best for last, shall we?_

"Mingyu is the master of camouflage. You wouldn't think so looking at his build, but you can never know where he is in the scene. Nobody notices him and nobody talks to him. Even people who greets everyone just seems to _overlooks_ him."

"Seungkwan can erase your memory. Every single one of it. Even the ones that you want to keep so dearly. There'll be no trace. There'll be no way to remember. It's just gone. As if it's not there in the first place. Even the sense of dejavu won't be there."

"Vernon can move in light speed. You know what's better? He makes no sound, no light at all. A shadow or a black figure is all you would see. Pretty scary, right? Imagine him stabbing you. In the span of ten seconds, you wouldn't even have enough flesh to be burn. Of course you wouldn't know. I hope you have the pleasure to experience it first-hand."

"Dino is special. Dino is _his_ favourite. A shapeshifter. A flyer. Kinder people call him an angel. But you know what else has wings? Devils." _or the baby of the devil_.

"What about the Prince? I heard that's what people call him on the streets." Seungcheol could pretty much smell it in the air how excited Seungsoo was, as if Jeonghan was his favourite character in a super hero movie.

"Ahh, Yoon Jeonghan. We call him the Prince of Fire. Because the fire that he makes doesn't just burn. It melts the flesh and skin off your bones like a popsicle in the middle of a heat wave. His fire burns brighter than anything the world has ever witness. He's an inferno. He can't be stopped. You can put him in the middle of the sea and he'll make it a dry wasteland." Seungcheol leant back on his chair, clearly satisfied at the horified face Seungsoo failed to mask.

"Then what about you?" Seungsoo asked in a near whisper. Seungcheol hummed playfully before he tilted his head to the right, revealing a signa of his own. It's a line that goes in like a triangle and Seungcheol sneered as his eyes changed colour into a deep vivid blue.

"I'm the alpha, the leader, the king. They're my people and they'll go to places you can't even imagine for me. Their loyalty is ultimate and unquestionable. As long as I live, they'll follow my lead."

BANG!

A huge blast and the sirens started to wail. Seungsoo stood there shocked and horrified as people's screams and pleads for help started to fill the air. There was a bright light from the ground floor and when Seungsoo looked down, he realised his nightmares had just started.

The fire burnt blue and green.

"Ouh and I forgot something. You can't burn us. Fire doesn't hurt any of us." Seungcheol smirked as the door to the interrogation room swung open and a trail of fire slithered towards the ropes that tied him and burnt them to ashes.

Jeonghan curled his fingers into a fist once the fire had done its job to immediately kill it. "You okay?" He asked Seungcheol with one deep glare at Seungsoo.

"Fine." Seungcheol gritted out as he used the power he never revealed, telekinesis to lift Seungsoo off the ground. Almost all of Pledis's underlings had evacuated the building once the fire had started and he took this chance to show them who was in charge.

With Seungsoo's body lifted 50 feet off the ground and Dino hovering close to him, almost invisible and all of his members on the ground, rallying up and controlling the crowd, Seungcheol nodded his head to The8.

"Seungsoo is no more!" His voice boomed with the help of The8's powers.

"If you want to leave, then leave. If you want to join us, then join. Either way you will not be harmed. But stand in our way and fire awaits you." Seungcheol threatened in that low, deadly voice.

Beside Seungcheol, Jeonghan stood with a smirk as he shot blasts of fire around the crowd. Jisoo scowled at him even as the Mask cocked a shotgun to the head of a whimpering human trafficker.

Suddenly, he heard someone shouted Seungcheol's name. Then, the shouting grew louder and intensified. Seungcheol smiled that huge grin that broke his face into the actual, manical one only Jeonghan and Woozi had ever seen.

"Pledis is nothing! From now on, Seventeen will rule!" Seungcheol declared and the crowd cheered with deafening enthusiasm.

Jeonghan's heart pumped worry into his every cell, because what scared him the most was happening.

The king had found his people and they were willing to die for him.


	4. The Beginning of The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *signa is the equivalent to a gang tattoo but it existed since birth and shows the same power that you have. SEVENTEEN has the signa of their real life logo and it shows that they have the same power: fire can't burn them.  
> *Seungcheol vivid blue eyes are when he wants to shows that he's the Alpha.  
> There, enjoy!  
> Also I'm trying to post one chapter per day so God help me.

"Jeonghan, have you heard from Seungcheol lately?" Jeonghan shook his head to Joshua's question, his eyes focusing instead on the small music box playing in front of him.

"I think Seungcheol is losing control." Joshua started as he sat down beside Jeonghan on the edge of his bed. The older guy laid his head down on the table, those eyes staring at him blankly.

"The new mission that Woozi is working on... Seungcheol is asking us to wipe out an entire gang. Jeonghan, you and I both know some of the kids there are forced to be a part of the gang. We can't just kill them all."

"The gang had been terrorising the community for years, Jisoo. Even those kids..we can't save them anymore. They're too far gone."

"The girls, then. The...the prostitutes. What would they do once we kill the gang? Most of them would die on the streets. Some would get into trouble and get themselves killed. We need to take them under our wings, Jeonghan. Or at least help them."

"We're not a charity, Jisoo. Even if we don't handle the business, we're evil too. We're criminals. Each of us would serve lifetimes if we get arrested. If this is your way of trying to undo the bad we done, find another. And also...you should be careful. Even amongst us, people talk. And Seungcheol wouldn't like to hear this from the ones he trust the most."

Jeonghan had no idea how right he was.

**

"Jeonghan still calling you his baby?" A familiar voice called out with a chuckle. Dino looked down from where he was airborne. His face immediately cracked into a smile and he hugged Seungcheol in an almost bone cracking hug.

"Hey kiddo, you're getting better at this." Seungcheol complimented as he fingered Dino's wings. Dino simply shrugged and held that big grin to Seungcheol.

"Hyung, you're staying this time, right? Right? Mission is no fun without you, hyung. Woozi and Joshua hyung are way too tough on me. Yesterday, Woozi hyung yelled at me because I was flying too fast. They were firing at me! What should I do?"

"If you flew slower, they wouldn't hear your wings flapping and the dust wouldn't settle so quickly, idiot. That's why they know where to aim even through the dust." Woozi snided from the archway to the garden.

Seungcheol gave him one of his toothy grins and hugged Woozi swiftly. "How's my oldest friend?" Woozi shrugged and turned to the hallway leading to the living room. "Yah, maknae. Go away. Let the grown-ups talk about adult stuff." Woozi scolded. Dino frowned and flapped his wings furiously until dust started to fly into Woozi's eyes.

"YAGHH!" Seungcheol chuckled and Woozi frowned deeper as his yelling went unnoticed by the youngest member.

"How was the mission last Tuesday?" Seungcheol asked and Woozi's eyerbrows furrowed. "Jun messed up on purpose but he wouldn't own up on it. I think he wants to meet you. Jeonghan and Joshua had an argument when we got back. Seems like Joshua got mad at Jeonghan for killing the underlings."

"That's my order. To kill everyone in the gang." Woozi shrugged at Seungcheol's cold and unsaid question. _Why was Joshua going against him?_

"I'll talk to them privately. How's Hoshi?" Woozi sighed this time and Seungcheol noticed the deep eyebags underneath his eyes.

"I tried to hypnosis him but his brain is too damn good at avoiding it. I still can't figure out what happened during his coma three years ago. Yesterday, he came to my room and put a knife on my throat. Then he cried. He said I'm the only one he could not kill. I think that scared him." Woozi said hesitantly. It took Seungcheol a while to process that the cold and sometimes detached Woozi was using his time and sources for the one guy he fell for.

But for Seungcheol, something striked out of that statement more than just Woozi's determination.

"The only one?" He asked and Woozi raised an eyebrow. "He wouldn't kill you of course, you're the Alpha. He can't do it." Woozi assured and Seungcheol hummed.

"This is just a concern. Seungkwan told me yesterday. He said Joshua's signa is fading. So I searched around if signas fading were a thing. It happened sometimes throughout history. It happens if that person is dying or..." Woozi paused, not sure if telling Seungcheol was the right thing, but with one look at Seungcheol, his signa hurt because he was considering doing something that was against his Alpha's wishes.

Woozi winced and continued, "Or if he's challenging the current Alpha."

Seungcheol's black eyes turned vivid blue.

**

"Joshua." Seungcheol said as soon as the dark haired gentleman stood in front of him. Joshua's appearance was muted today, dark coloured hair and common dark brown eyes. Seungcheol smiled an almost honest one before he placed a music box in front of Joshua.

"I found this at your old orphanage. The government wants to demolish it but I pulled some strings and it's staying. We do have to pay a monthly bribe but once our lawyers work on that, the orphanage would stay." Seungcheol said with that condescending tone of voice.

As if Joshua didn't know about the weapons warehouse underneath the orphanage.

He smiled slightly as he took the music box in his hands. It reminded him immensely of Jeonghan's. In fact, it almost looked like a twin. Suddenly, a pain shot up from his neck to his head. Joshua winced and Seungcheol leant forward. "Are you okay?" His question went unanswered as Joshua stared at the music box.

_"Hanyoon-ah...omma....needs to go somewhere. Take care of Jisoo for me?" a tall figure of a woman said to him._

_"Okay, mama. Sure! Come back quickly!" Came a small kid's voice. Joshua looked to his side where a taller boy grinned as he looked down to him._

_"Hyung....why isn't omma home yet?" Joshua felt himself asked._

_"It's okay, omma is just busy. Come here, hyung will make you ramen." The kid was only 7-8 and Joshua felt warmth blossomed in his heart as the kid smiled down at him._

_Joshua went away when the small kid was cooking, he went to his mother's room and found two idenical music boxes._

_"Hyung, look at this!" He called out as he giggled._

_"Jisoo, omma told us not to play it unless she's here. Put it back." The kid said sternly. Joshua felt his lips wobble and he started to cry._

_"Okay, okay. Hyung will play it for you. Just once, okay?" The small kid said in a tense voice. Joshua only giggled. The kid played the music box and soft, lilting piano melody filled the air._

_"Hyung can take one. I can take one." He said, laughing once the song ended._

_"Omma?" The small kid asked and Joshua laughed loudly. "Omma can listen to us sing." The small kid laughed in return and said,_

_"Ouh, our little Jisoo wants to sing for omma? I'll tell her when she comes home. Come let's eat ramen." The small kid said as he offered Joshua his hand. And a small, pudgy hand was placed in his._

As Joshua walked, led by the small kid, Joshua saw the little kid's signa.

At the same spot on his arm as Jeonghan's.

Joshua felt a stabbing pain on his head and opened his eyes. He was in his room, on his bed, with Jeonghan looking worriedly at him.

"You fainted in Seungcheol's office. Are you alright now?" Jeonghan asked. Joshua's head felt slightly numb because of the iced bag on his forehead but he nodded anyway.

"Jeonghan-ah, do you....remember your little brother?" Joshua asked hesitantly. Jeonghan's eyes turned sad and he sighed.

"Of course. His name was Jisoo, just like you.. He got separated from me when our mother disappeared. I guess taking care of us was too much for her. I got taken into a relative's family and he entered foster care. I tried reaching out to him but the orphanage he went to was very tight in security and none of my letters were replied. I tried going there but there was security people on the front and they wouldn't let me in." Joshua's heart sped up and he grasped on his bedsheets tightly.

"Do you remember the orphanage?" Jeonghan looked at him questioningly and asked,

"You never asked me that before." Joshua glared at him and shouted, "Just answer me!"

"It's Heaven's Garden Orphanage, why?!" Jeonghan shouted back.

Heaven's Garden. Heaven's Garden. Heaven's Garden.

The wretched place that tortured Joshua daily for 8 years.

The place where Jeonghan lost his little brother.

Joshua looked to his front where there was Jeonghan's bed and his vanity table. On top was a very familiar looking music box.

_Hyung can take one. I can take one._

"Shua, what's wrong? You're acting weirdly these days." Jeonghan asked, concerned. He moved from the chair to sit on the bed, his warm hands cradling Joshua's face. "Joshua," Jeonghan whispered as he pressed kisses on the other's face.

Joshua stared widely as Jeonghan pressed his lips against Joshua in a innocent and comforting kiss.

But it caused a turmoil and burning in Joshua that he never felt before.

"We can't do this." Joshua whispered. Jeonghan cocked his head. His lover of a year and a half was acting weirdly. It was just a kiss.

"Why not?" Jeonghan asked softly, a whisper as if any louder would drive Joshua away.

"The same blood that runs in you runs in me." Jeonghan stared at him and frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His voice was stern and low and Joshua looked at him with fear in his eyes.

But his gut was telling him it was right.

"Hanyoon hyung." Joshua called out and Jeonghan almost jumped off the bed. He stared wide-eyed at the only guy who he had ever loved. It can't be, Jeonghan thought to himself. This is impossible, he muttered as he shook his head.

Nobody knew that name. No one except his brother and his biological mom. Then, it clicked. The questions, that scared look, those words he didn't understand.

Jisoo his lover was Jisoo his little brother.

Jeonghan ran to the bathroom and puked. He retched and heaved on the toilet, all of the food he had eaten and then just air escaped his body and shook him violently.

Without a word or a glance to Joshua, he ran away from their bedroom to the practice room. He was losing it. His patience. His control.

He needed to go somewhere where his fire wouldn't burn anyone.

Once he entered the practice room, he took a look at the four walls that were supposed to be heat-resistant, even the fire from Jeonghan.

When he was done unleashing the fire gnawing in his heart, the walls were nothing but molten liquid.

**


	5. The Lover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story got real twisted, this is all psychology and manipulation. Sorry.

"Shua hyung. Any news about Jeonghan hyung?" Dino asked as he sat down beside Joshua on the bench in the mansion's garden.

"I don't know, Dino." Shua confessed and the youngest of the crew sighed deeply. "Why is it that everyone seems so scary these days? Seungcheol hyung stayed hidden in his office all day. Woozi and Hoshi hyung are always in the lab. Yesterday Woozi hyung asked who I am before he remembered my name.

Jeonghan hyung just walked off and Jun hyung is always at the theatre. The8 hyung doesn't want to do anything other than stay in his room and reads all those ancient books. Mingyu hyung keeps bringing home random girls, and Wonwoo hyung just keeps to himself. Last night I saw Wonwoo hyung sword training here in the middle of the night. I asked him what he was doing and he told me not to bother him. Unless I want my wings cut off. Shua hyung and the rest always go out every day to find Jeonghan hyung.

The mansion feels like a prison both day and night." Dino grumbled. Shua turned around to see the little kid frowning and he ruffled his hair. "Everything will be fine. It will all be okay." He assured even though he highly doubted it.

"Hyung... What happened if Jeonghan hyung leaves us forever? Will the members stay like this?" Dino asked in a small voice. Suddenly it struck Shua that their youngest was just nineteen. He hadn't even had his alcohol yet. It hurt Shua to see their youngest struggling with the situation that was out of his control.

"I don't know, Dino. I don't know what'll happen if he never comes back." Shua said honestly. Dino took in a deep breath and walked away from Shua without another word. Shua sighed and stared at the signa on his palm. It was back to black. As black as the day Shua was born.

**

"Hoshi, Hoshi..." Woozi called out as his lover groaned in the glass cage he made himself. The man was thrashing against the leather bands that Woozi used to hold him to the chair. "What are you doing?!!!" Hoshi yelled as another sharp zap of electricity zinged his head.

Woozi stared at the screens and machines on his side of the lab. He didn't know how to answer Hoshi's question. What _was_ he doing? "I don't know. I don't know." He muttered to himself as he pressed random buttons and turned numerous switches to make it stop. Hoshi was yelling louder. And louder and louder. He was calling out to Woozi, chanting his name and it grew even louder.

"Stop. Stop, stop, stop, STOP!!!!" Woozi yelled as he pressed that big, red button.

Silence. Complete and utter silence.

Woozi opened his eyes and lowered his hands from where they were clasped against his ears. Hoshi was hunched forward. As forward as the leather bands allowed and he wasn't stirring.

"Hoshi. Hoshi. Hoshi!!" Woozi shouted and the body of his lover began to stir. He raised his head up and looked around the cage, as if he had just stirred from a very long sleep. His eyes looked confused as he scanned the perimeter until they met Woozi's. Then that face broke into the loveliest smile Woozi had ever seen.

"Jihoon-ah." Hoshi called out. Woozi slumped to the floor and cried. His heart felt like it was getting ripped apart with just those three syllables. His whole body shook and the tears dampened his clothes. He did it. He finally did it. After all this time trying, he finally succeeded.

He got Soonyoung back.

As quick as he could with tears blurring his vision, Woozi opened the cage door and unshackled Soonyoung from his chair. The love of his life fell to the floor, his whole body trembling. Woozi stared closely as Soonyoung laid on the floor and the latter laughed. "I miss you so much, Jihoon." He sighed as his lifted his hand gingerly to hold Jihoon's.

"Where did you go? Why? How?" Woozi asked and Soonyoung dragged him down to lay beside him. "I'll explain everything. Just...let me hold you a bit." He said and Woozi let Soonyoung pulled him close and hugged him tightly. He stayed quiet and pliant, which never happened before.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry." Soonyoung said, suddenly crying on Woozi's shoulder. Woozi's body tensed automatically but it only made Soonyoung held him tighter.

"I'm sorry I left you with that monster. I'm sorry." He repeated again and again. Woozi stroked his hair and patted his back softly.

"Are you talking about Hoshi?" Woozi whispered his question and Soonyoung pulled away, his face dazed.

"No. Who's Hoshi?" Soonyoung asked. That genuine confusion and curiosity on his face only strengthened Woozi's theory.

"Soonyoung, what's the last thing you remember?" Woozi asked as he pulled Soonyoung to sit cross-legged on the floor. "That robbery yesterday. The...that-" Soonyoung's eyes widened and he suddenly shot up to his legs.

"We need to get away from here. Now! Come on, Jihoon!" Soonyoung shouted as he dragged Woozi to his feet. "Wait, what? Soonyoung what are you saying?" Jihoon yelled back as he pulled his wrist off Soonyoung's hold.

"That day. After the robbery. I got mad at him for killing those kids who saw his face without a mask. They were innocent. We don't kill innocent people. But he did and he called them collateral damage. They were kids, Jihoon. He said if I disobey him, he'll kill me and he'll come to you next. But I can't just let him killing kids around. So I shot him on the chest but he was wearing a vest. He shot me at the chest. Everything went dark and...I woke up in that chair." Soonyoung said as he glanced to the chair in the cage.

"Wait, what? What... what's all this? No, no. Soonyoung, you got shot during the robbery. That security guard shot you! I saw it! Then, you fell into a coma. When you woke up, you were different. You were crazy and reckless and you said your name is Hoshi. You don't know anyone but you let me feed you sometimes. You called me Woozi. And you said it's my name." Woozi splurted out and Soonyoung stared at him with wide eyes. They both stared at each other in silence, each thinking that they were right. Then, Woozi's mind remembered something.

"The person who shot you, who was it?" As soon as the question slipped out of Woozi, Soonyoung's face turned furious.

"Choi Seungcheol."

Everything clicked. Woozi whirled around and ran to his control board. With a decisive flick of a switch, the lab went under lockdown. Soonyoung walked slowly to exit the cage and Woozi immediately came to his help.

"When you were in coma, Seungcheol came by with this kid, Jun. He can alter memory. I think he altered mine and maybe messed with yours, because you woke up exactly after I left you alone with Seungcheol and Jun. Or rather Hoshi woke up. Jun had some kind of connection with ghosts. So maybe he used that power to let someone else live in your body. That's the only thing that makes sense. The electric shock must have gotten rid of that thing." Woozi theorized and Soonyoung bit his lip in worry.

"Where are we?" Soonyoung asked, finally realizing the unfamiliar place he was in. Woozi looked around and said ,"My lab. It's in the basement of Jeonghan hyung's mansion." Soonyoung's face grew even more confused.

"Who is Jeonghan hyung?" Woozi grew pale. It only proved that his theory was right. "Soonyoung, what year is it?" Woozi asked urgently. Soonyoung blinked his eyes rapidly ay Woozi's panicked reaction and whispered, "2015."

Woozi was right. That person, Hoshi had been living in Soonyoung's body for 3 years since he fell in a coma. Soonyoung had never met Jun. That meant his memories were not altered. What he said is right, Woozi realised..

Seungcheol was hurting innocent people, the one thing they swore not to do. The missions...Woozi remembered. They were all about destroying other gangs and killing people who escape the justice system. They took control over neighbourhoods to ensure its safety from gangsters. How much was that true? All they got were addresses, numbers and blueprints. They didn't even know the names of the people they had killed. Woozi felt like throwing up.

"We need to get out of here." Woozi grumbled as he started pacing back and forth, throwing in things he might need in his backpack as Soonyoung looked around the lab.

"Jihoon-ah, why does it says here that today is 12 June 2018?" Soonyoung asked in a small voice and Woozi froze. He turned around slowly to see Soonyoung's fear-filled eyes. Woozi's heart ached then, just like when he didn't recognise Woozi when he woke up from coma.

"It's been three years since your coma, Soonyoung. So many things had happened since then. But that's not important. We need to get away from here." Woozi tensed.

"If Seungcheol find out that you're back, he'll kill you. For real. Because if he doesn't and our memories get altered, we'll just find each other again and I'll find a way to bring you back. We need to leave here. We need to go somewhere they cannot find us. We need to run." Woozi urged and Soonyoung nodded his head.

They did run, in the dead of the night, dressed in black and sneaking off from the back entrance of the mansion. But a certain pair of eyes were watching and though Woozi's and Soonyoung's fading signas hurt, they didn't stop. They ran until their legs almost give out and take a short rest.

They didn't know that the Alpha's signa hurt too.

**

Soonyoung opened his eyes to Jihoon's calm, sleeping face. There was that stinging pain from his signa again but after a night, he had grew accustomed. "Whoever made the rule that signas hurt when you disobey the Alpha is a fool." Soonyoung spitted out.

"Really? I don't think so. When your signa hurts, mine hurts too. That's how I know who's loyal and who's not." A voice answered from behind Soonyoung. He turned his head around swiftly and saw the one man he could gladly kill with bare hands. Choi Seungcheol.

"Choi Seungcheol." He gritted out. Seungcheol looked a little surprised by his tone and the way he blocked Seungcheol from the sleeping Woozi. "So the genius Woozi found a way to bring his lover boy back." Seungcheol mused and Soonyoung glared at him.

"You know I specifically asked Jun to find the most damaged and craziest soul with a lust for blood to enter your body. Hoshi was perfect. He had no moral compass and no empathy or sympathy for people. I had hoped over time Woozi's tendency to minimize blood spill when he's making plans would annoy Hoshi enough that he'll kill him. But this is nice too. I get to meet an old friend. So how was living in between life and death, Soonyoung?" Soonyoung only gritted his teeth at the question.

Seungcheol's eyes turned furious and he pulled out a semi-auto handgun. Without so much as a flinch, he fired a shot, startling Woozi from his sleep. He sneered at Woozi who stared at him with wide eyes.

"You're too smart for your own good, Woozi. You should've just let your memories fool you. You shouldn't have worked so hard on bringing Soonyoung back. But it was partly my fault too. I should've told Jun to twist your memory about Soonyoung too, shouldn't I? Ouh, don't worry. I didn't bring Jun with me today. In fact, I figured a nice game for you two." Seungcheol grinned.

"You see, as Alpha, I can order any of my members. So I'm ordering you two. To kill each other." Seungcheol said with a huge grin.

The order echoed in the abandoned warehouse like a death verdict. The question was not if they would kill each other. They would. The Alpha's orders were absolute. But who would die first?


	6. The Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little meanie + jeonghan return dudududuududum

"Hyung! Hyung! Ahhh, hyung!!!" DK shouted as he shook the sleeping Joshua. The older man opened his eyes slightly to a dark room. "What? It isn't morning yet..." Joshua grumbled as he yawned. He turned to DK and got taken aback by his wide, crescent-eyed grin.

"Jeonghan hyung is back." With that one sentence, Joshua felt like the weight of the sky fell to his shoulders.

DK quickly left the room after that, leaving Joshua alone to put on proper pants over his boxers and wrapped his body with a robe. When Joshua made his way to the living room, animated chatter filled the air and one man was there, the centre of it all.

Yoon Jeonghan.

Jisoo felt the name slipped out of his lips more than hearing it. The crowd of 5 boys obviously didn't hear it over their own loud voices but Jeonghan looked up to Joshua and those eyes...Joshua never knew those beautiful eyes could be so cold.

He joined the rest of his team with a fake, wide smile as he welcomed Jeonghan back. Some of the younger members went to the kitchen to cook something up for Jeonghan and left him alone with Joshua.

"Where's Hoshi and Woozi?" Jeonghan asked monotonously. Joshua gulped in his nerves and answered,

"Jun said they went on a mission with Coups." Jeonghan hummed and looked at the kitchen.

"Vernon and Seungkwan?"

"They went to Hungary, yesterday. Got a lead that you were there. I'll tell them that you're back later." Joshua replied as he looked up. Jeonghan was staring at him and Joshua looked away. He couldn't stand those eyes he couldn't decipher looking at him that way.

"Let's talk for a bit, Joshua." Jeonghan said as he walked away from the living room to one of the many hallways of the mansion. Joshua followed, unconsciously keeping a safe distance from a man he once shared a bed with.

They bound up at the glass corridor, where the moonlight lit the glass and crystal adorning the space, lighting everything up like little Christmas lights. Jeonghan waited until Joshua entered the corridor before he locked the door.

"I'll move out from our room. Seokmin has a spare bed so I'll be rooming up with him. I took some time to think and...I don't want to be near you. I'll ask Seungcheol to transfer me to another team or send me out to guard the territory. Delete my contact from your phone and don't ever call or text me. I don't want to have anything to do with you." Jeonghan gritted out and Joshua's eyes watered. He had known this would happen, he had imagined it all in his mind when Jeonghan left, he had, he _had_ , so why did it still hurt like this?

"Yoon Jeonghan. Can't you at least look at me?" He requested to Jeonghan's turned back. Suddenly, Jeonghan's body shook.

"I can't." He confessed in a broken sob. "I can't look at you, Joshua. I can't look at you, knowing I've touched you in places I shouldn't. I'm your brother, Shua. I'm your brother and we did....we did...things that...that.....I can't look at you without feeling dirty all over. I feel like throwing myself off a building, looking at you. But I...I promised mom that I'll take care of you. So I would. From a distance. I don't think I can control myself if I'm too near to you. Everything just feels too much." Jeonghan stuttered and Joshua's heart felt like it got ripped off his cage.

"Yoon Jeonghan." He called out as he walked forward. Jeonghan moved forward too, maintaining that distance. Joshua let out a deep sigh and in a low whisper, he said,

"Goodbye, Yoon Jeonghan."

It was almost 10 minutes after the door had slammed shut again that Jeonghan allowed himself to fell to the ground, sobbing his heart out. He did the right thing, he knew he did. He was sure he did.

"So why did it feels so wrong?" Jeonghan asked the wind, as if it maybe held the answer.

**

"Hyung." DK called out after Wonwoo's retreating back. Wonwoo stopped on his track and turned around. DK's usual sunshine-like smile greeted them and Wonwoo let the younger pulled him into one of the reading rooms.

"What's going on with you and Mingyu?" DK asked carefully once Wonwoo was seated. Just as his suspicion, Wonwoo immediately stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hyung, wait! Just...just hear me out!" DK yelled and Wonwoo stopped.

"What?" DK took a long, deep breath and said, "Mingyu is not having sex with the women he brought home."

Wonwoo's face coloured up immediately and he spluttered, "Wha...what makes you think, think I want to know that?! Idiot!" DK grinned again and teased the older man.

"Hyung, we all know how much you and Mingyu like each other~" DK cackled and Wonwoo sighed, defeated.

"All I did was give him one of my favourite books and he suddenly started inviting all those women into his room. What is it that he's doing with them, anyway?" Wonwoo muttered yet DK caught his question.

"I'm not sure, hyung. He said that they're his 'Sofia'? I'm not sure." DK mused. Suddenly, Wonwoo's confused expression cleared up and the man started to laugh.

"Oh my god! Hahahahaha....Sofia is a character in the book I gave him. She's paid to stay the night in the young master room because rumours of the young master liking guys had been spreading. The young master turned out to actually like guys anyway." DK started to laugh too hearing Wonwoo's explanation and he asked the older man,

"Does that mean he thinks you're suspecting that he's gay?" Wonwoo shrugged at the question and lifted himself off the chair.

"I don't know, DK. I'm hoping that he's gay, but he doesn't need to know that." Wonwoo left the younger guy with a wink and a chuckle before he closed the door behind him.

Really, Wonwoo laughed again at the impossible situation. _Kim Mingyu, you never cease to amaze me._

With one wicked idea, Wonwoo quickened his pace as he headed for the second room on the right of the second floor. Mingyu's. He could barely hide his grin as the plan hatched itself in his mind.

Tok,tok,tok. He rapped the door. Mingyu's question of 'who is it' was left unanswered and before long, there was a creak as the door opened.

Mingyu stared at him with wide eyes, since Wonwoo had refused to talk to him since he started bringing home women. _Sofia,_ his mind reminded and he almost laughed again.

"What are you doing?" Wonwoo asked with his usual poker face. Mingyu's face flared up as Wonwoo spotted a woman sitting on an armchair, reading a book while humming slowly. "It's not what you think it is, hyung." Mingyu hurriedly exclaimed and Wonwoo grinned.

"Yah." He called out and Mingyu turned to face him.

Without a warning, Wonwoo grabbed fistfuls of the taller's shirt and pulled him down. At the same moment, without waiting for his reaction, Wonwoo kissed Mingyu gently. It was all lips, but soft, heavenly lips of Wonwoo left too much to be desired. Mingyu pulled the older guy closer as the kiss deepened and Wonwoo started letting out these small, cute sounds. After a while, the need of air defeated their passion and they pulled back.

"I don't think you'll need another Sofia after this." Wonwoo whispered softly before turning aroung and closing the bedroom door behind him. He did it. He actually did it.

Now all he needed to do was wait for that giant tree to realise his feelings for Wonwoo. It might take a bit long, Wonwoo realised but he shrugged his shoulders.

He'll get there anyhow, Wonwoo thought.


	7. The Passing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Major Character Death and Suicide.  
> Approach with care.  
> Also, Getting Closer is fucking awesome. Fite me.

"We don't have all day, you know? Just get to it." Seungcheol yelled in his obnoxious, bored tone. Soonyoung gritted his teeth as he looked at the man he once thought of as his saviour. Who would've known he was the biggest devil of them all?

Jihoon eyed him warily, swishing the bloody knife in his hand with expertise. Soonyoung knew he could kill Jihoon. Knew that with their widely different skills, it would be easy to feint a quick left when the other guy made a hurried, unskilled jab and aim for the heart.

But he couldn't. This was a face that he forcefully remembered as he faced passing time in darkness. His was the laughter that kept him hoping there would be light. His was the warmth that he first felt since he was born. This was a man he loved. He couldn't kill him.

"Maybe I should've brought Jun with me. This pointless debacle would be easier sooner, right?" Seungcheol mused as two of his most valuable members turned in a slow circle, every sense of their body aware of the other.

"You might be right, Cheol. This can be over quickly." Soonyoung said and with one final smile at the only man he had ever wanted to keep by his side for the rest of the life, he plunged his own knife to his body.

"Kwon Soonyoung!" He heard Jihoon shout as his legs gave way and he fell to the hard, dirty ground."

Hahahaha." He laughed.

He once had the dream to dance.

To be a choreographer.

To move delicately and passionately on a stage where they would call out his name.

He wanted to say what he wanted in movement and not words. He guessed he was doing it now.

His way of saying to Jihoon that he loved him.

So, so, so much.

"Soonyoung, Soonyoung,Soonyoung!" Jihoon yelled as loud as he could as he put his lover's head on his lap.

"Jihoon-ah. Tell the others. Stop Seungcheol. And, finish me. Don't let another monster live in me. Please." Soonyoung pleaded as more redness filled his eyes.

Jihoon was crying.

His cute, beautiful, smart Jihoon was crying.

"Promise me." Soonyoung whispered as darkness started to threaten him again and he saw Jihoon nodded his head.

There, that's enough. Soonyoung closed his eyes and the corners of his mouth pulled into a smile as another sharp pain emerged on his chest. As he stared into the darkness, losing his sense of touch, of Jihoon's lap under his head, he made one last wish for them.

 

In the next life, let's meet where we don't have to do this.

 

No signa, no blood, no crime.

 

Let's live a happy life, Jihoon.

 

You with your music.

 

Me with my dance.

 

Together.

 

 

**

"Yoon Jeonghan!" Seungcheol called out as soon as he saw the beautiful man sitting idly on the living room. Jeonghan greeted him with a huge smile and hugged his friend dearly.

"Where's Hoshi and Woozi?" He asked as he saw that Seungcheol returned alone. Seungcheol winced a little at the question but his charming smile was back in miliseconds.

"You know I can't control them. They said they want to go somewhere, just the two of them." The leader shrugged and Jeonghan laughed.

"Are they finally going out together? I know there's something from the way they keep coming back to one another," Jeonghan said pleasantly.

"Enough about them. You? Where did you disappear to?" Seungcheol's face turned stern and Jeonghan smiled sheepishly.

"I did some thinking. Resolved some personal stuff. Nothing big. Just...needed time alone a bit." Jeonghan answered vaguely. Seungcheol looked down to Jeonghan's fingers that he kept fiddling with and a winning smirk came to his face.

His couple ring was gone.

"Anything happened between you and Shua?" Seungcheol treaded carefully yet Jeonghan's eyes turned dark and angry.

"Don't say his name in front of me. I want nothing to do with him." Jeonghan spitted out and Seungcheol immediately took hold of his hands.

"Sorry. That was insensitive of me. Just...sorry, okay? Don't turn away from me. Please." Seungcheol mellowed his voice as he leant his head on the boy's shoulder.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Ah, stupid heart, why are you doing this?!, Jeonghan internally slapped himself on the face as Seungcheol's warm breath continued to caress his back,almost as warm as Joshua's hands.

No. Jeonghan gritted his teeth and pulled himself out of his disgusting thought.Jisoo was his brother. That was it.

"Yah, Choi Seungcheol. Everything okay?" Jeonghan asked with that low voice, softly pushing the boy away from him.

"Sleep with me, tonight? I don't think I can sleep alone." Seungcheol confessed and Jeonghan's eyes widened.

"Did something happen during your mission? You know you can tell me everything." Jeonghan coaxed.

_Can I, Jeonghan? Can I tell you that I made Hoshi kill himself and Woozi jumped off a cliff because of me? Can I tell you that, Yoon Jeonghan? No. I don't think so._

 

_My pure, perfect angel._

 

_You won't be pure for long._

 

"Seungcheol?" Jeonghan whispered when Seungcheol just stared at him with a faraway look.

"It's nothing. I'm a little tired, that's all. And the room is too suffocating alone. So, care to join me?" Jeonghan smiled. Seungcheol must have noticed how tense he and Joshua had been and decided to be the pacifist.

 _Really, how kind can you be?_ , Jeonghan thought warmly as he nodded his head.

It's just sleeping in the same room, nothing can go wrong, right?

 

Wrong.

 

**

"Wonwoo hyung." The8 called softly as the older man turned around, his books of ancient history in hands.

"What?" The8 beckoned him softly and they both entered the huge library of the house.

"I got this message from Woozi hyung. It's a little weird. I think it's a code? But I don't know what kind. It looks like Japanese characters but they're too simple. Here." The8 exclaimed as he held out a piece of paper with random L's and boxes. Wonwoo took one look and frowned.

"This is a pigpen cipher. But it seems elaborate...ahh, I can see it now. Get me a pen and paper." Wonwoo ordered as his voice rang excitedly. The8 quickly searched around the library and brought a fountain pen and some paper for the older man.

Wonwoo sat down and wrote down the guide to crack the code. With every word that he managed to extract, his eyebrows furrowed even deeper and The8's face became ashen.

"Get the rest of the members except Seungcheol hyung and Jun hyung. Do it carefully. Don't get Seungcheol's attention." Wonwoo ordered and The8 nodded his head curtly.

One by one, the members arrived in high spirits which quickly dampened as they saw Wonwoo's grim expression. The team gathered on the sofa facing the fireplace, each eager to what the brightest mind in attendance had to say.

"DK, can you secure the room?" Wonwoo asked softly and though the request was weird, they were at home, after all, DK opened his mouth and let a shrill, unheard sound came out.

It blocked every connection from the inside out, electronical and digital devices all the same. With a little effort, as DK heightened his frequency, the room became sound-proof.

"Just now, The8 showed me an e-mail that Woozi had sent to him privately one day before Seungcheol came here. In it was a code, pigpen cipher and anagram. I managed to crack it and decipher the message. I want you all to listen carefully to this.

_Wonwoo, I trust that you'll be able to crack this. I'm dead. Whatever Seungcheol told you all about me and Hoshi is a lie. We're dead. The reason I'm sending this is because you guys need to save yourself. For years, since we formed Seventeen and took over power of the city, we have been given numerous missions. To wipe the filth of crime from our city. We massacred gangs and criminal syndicates, all while hiding in the shadows. For years, we believed we were the vigilantes._

_We are not. We are the criminals. We kill people based on information given in files. We don't know their names. With research, I found out that we have been killing government officials, public servants and slaves. We've burnt children, women and innocent people. We burnt them all. We never see the bodies of who we killed but we killed them all with our fire. Wonwoo, I'm trusting you to lead the members away from Seungcheol. Run. Hide. Do whatever you can. And stay away from Jun. Avoid Jun at all cost. He'll twist your memory and make you stay with Seungcheol. Plan your escape. Do it right. You all are the only family I have. Please live._

Wonwoo choked in the last sentence, realizing the horrified and shaken faces of his members. He couldn't say it. Woozi was really too mean. Yet, Wonwoo's face contorted as tears began pouring down his face. He was just a young man.

He was just a young man and he's dead.

 

_Please live, I'm sorry I can't._

**

"Woozi, what are you doing?!" Seungheol shouted at his oldest friend who was standing by the cliff, his beloved music scores in hand.

"Back in high school, I had a dream to be a composer. Before I met Soonyoung and before we met you. I would stay up for nights to find the right sound, the right melody. It's the only thing that kept my mind from exploding. Then, shit happened. And I met Soonyoung. He became the one thing that kept me sane."

"What about now, Seungcheol? He's gone. My music only reminds me of him. I can't live like this. I'll go crazy. And a crazy me is much deadlier than Hoshi or you. I can cause mass murder to happen at the tip of my finger. Or execution of a whole country with two days of planning. That's why...."

"Woozi, what the fuck are you saying?! We need to get back to the mansion. Now!" Seungcheol shouted and Woozi gave him a huge grin.

 _He's happy,_ Seungcheol realized.

With that grin, Woozi took a step back and let gravity did his work. With one final thought of a certain slanted eyes boy, he took his Walter against his temple and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Seungcheol opened his eyes to see he had managed to levitate the dead body of his best friend from the cliff. That smiling face.

 _I will die smiling too, you'll see_ , Seungcheol grunted but somewhere deep in him, he knew it wouldn't be.

**


	8. The Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little late, sorries and I added the second part of this chapter, so yeah. Anyway, Merry Christmas~

Jeonghan heard the grunts. The annoying tosses and turns. He tried his best to shut them out but damn if Seungcheol could stop being so loud!

"Yah, Choi Seungcheol!" Jeonghan yelled as he turned around to face the older guy's bed.

Seungcheol's eyes were shut tight, and beads of sweat dampened his forehead. Jeonghan's anger turned to concern as he came closer to the older guy.

"Cheol, wake up." Jeonghan whispered softly as he shook the Alpha's body. Seungcheol's eyes stayed screwed shut and Jeonghan shook him more violently.

"Yah, just wake up!" Jeonghan yelled and Seungcheol's grip on his blanket lessened as his eyes fluttered open.

"Yoon Jeonghan?" Seungcheol mumbled and Jeonghan quickly pulled his friend up to sit and lean against the headboard.

"You okay?" Jeonghan asked softly. Seungcheol looked worn out and exhausted, more so than when they said goodnight.

"Just a harmless nightmare." Seungcheol gritted out even as ghosts of Hoshi and Woozi peeked out from the corners of his eyes.

He had never killed a member before. He didn't know the effect was this severe.

He wondered if he would've still force them to obey his last order if he knew it would end like this.

 

He would.

 

He _knew_ nothing would've stopped his desire to see that broken look on Woozi's face as Soonyoung's last breath left his body.

 

Nothing.

 

"Seungcheol." Jeonghan raised his voice as Seungcheol snapped out of his train of thought.

 _An angel,_ Seungcheol mused as he offered a half-hearted smile at the beautiful man.

He wanted him. Ever since he, Jihoon and Soonyoung had found him, burning signas into the ground, he had wanted him. For him and for him only.

 _But he loves another,_ the demon in his head cackled. Joshua. Seungcheol gritted his teeth.

"Yah. Why are you looking like an angry puppy? Just tell me already what happened in the mission so you'll be back to your normal self."Jeonghan demanded in his usual teasing tone.

 _Normal._ Normal. He had never been normal. He had never felt normal. He had always have those...livings inside him, trampling his compassion, morality, any shred of humanity.

 

_I want to look normal in front of you._

 

_No matter what happens inside me, I want you to look at me with those twinkling, fond eyes._

 

_Not ones of fear or disgust or worse, loathe._

 

_Just keep on watching me with those cheerful eyes._

 

_Am I asking for too much?_

 

_Maybe I am._

 

"I think there's something you can do to help me." Seungheol muttered lowly, looking at Jeonghan through his long eyelashes.

"Hmm?" Jeonghan hummed as he move closer to Seungcheol, both of them cross-legged on his bed.

"Close your eyes for me?" He asked, fiddling with the sleeve of Jeonghan's hoodie. The slightly younger member laughed as his eyes fluttered shut, thinking what a cutie Seungcheol was being.

Nothing happened at first. Then, he felt those full lips, firmly on his forehead for a couple of seconds.

Jeonghan chuckled as he opened his eyes, face to face with an undecipherable face of Choi Seungcheol. His face broke into a teasing grin as he laughed.

"What? That's all? Really, you're such a--!" Those same lips planted themselves on Jeonghan, soft and hot and relentless. A gasp escaped him and Seungcheol's tongue roughly seeked the entrance, the man himself cradling the face of his first love.

Jeonghan's eyes popped open, his whole being felt as if he was on fire as Seungcheol continud to kiss him. His eyes met his and that look in Seungcheol's eyes.

Love. It's love.

"No!" Jeonghan grunted as he pushed Seungcheol away. The Alpha stared at him, again with those eyes full of feelings Jeonghan wasn't ready to know.

_Why, Choi Seungcheol? Why? I'm already weak as it is... don't do this to me._

_I'm scared I can't refuse you_.

"I like you. A lot. Yoon Jeonghan, I will treat you better." _than Joshua_ , that demon inside his head chirped.

"I've liked you since I first saw you. But we were too busy finding people with our signa, too busy establishing Seventeen. By the time I realise it, you were already with someone else. I know. I know. I'm supposed to be the best friend. But these feelings inside me... I can't control it. I like you too much."

Jeonghan stared at Seungcheol as his words engraved themselves in his mind. His words sounded honest, almost practised, sure, but there was sincerity.

So why was there something bugging Jeonghan from the back of his mind?

Shaking that thought off his mind, Jeonghan smiled at the man in front of him.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this." He said honestly. Seungcheol's face fell and Jeonghan felt that stabbing guilt in him.

"But if you don't mind going slow... let's try it. Everyone needs a chance. I don't think it's a bad idea to give us a chance." Jeonghan said softly, his voice lilting in the dark room, making something in Seungcheol sing of its glory.

"I don't mind. We can set things at your pace." Seungcheol said with a smile and Jeonghan returned it with one of his own.

 

_What a pure, pretty angel._

 

Seungcheol kissed him again and he felt those lips firmly closed. Seungcheol pulled back, slightly confused and Jeonghan exhaled slowly.

"Slow, Cheol." Seungcheol slapped a smile over his disappointment and Jeonghan traced circles into his palm absent-mindedly.

By the time morning appeared and Seungcheol had finished contemplating sending extra money for Seungkwan and Vernon who were stranded at Hungary after missing their flight, the kiss from last night felt like a dream.

 

A sweet, midnight dream.

 

The name that escaped Jeonghan's mouth as he slept on the other bed the entire night, however, was not.

 

It was heartbreaking, really.

 

Even in his dreams, Joshua was the one Jeonghan remembered.

 

_Should I kill him too, Jeonghan?_

 

_Would you be entirely mine, then?_

 

He might. He never know. Nobody did.

**

The8 flinched for the hundredth time, maybe. The theater was eery as it was, but with the knowledge that Jun might be in there, conversing easily with the lost souls, made the whole experience ten-fold more horrifying. Even the creaks of dead branches under his sneakers made he heart raced a little faster.

_Why do you choose this haunted place as your hideout, Jun?? I can't back out though. I need to know._

Just as The8 was passing the popcorn and drinks counter, he saw a beautiful woman, sitting on one of the round tables, examining her wings.

A fairy.

"You shouldn't be here. He wouldn't like it." The fairy voiced out when The8 was directly in front of him.

"You don't know anything." The8 replied harshly, his hands automatically forming fists on his side.

"I know that you're a soul fairy. I know that your parents cut off your wings when you were a baby because they were scared. I know that you've lived your life wondering why the rain turned to thunderstorm when you're angry and a downpour when you're sad."

"I know a great many things, Xu Minghao. Things you wouldn't want to know." She ended darkly. The8's eyes wandered up and down her body until he spotted those simple three lines at her neck. Ah, a blood fairy.

In front of him, was a blood fairy. A fairy born from fairy's blood, whose powers and knowledge went well beyond his limits. Plus, blood fairies couldn't lie even to save their lives. They were cunning, yes, but they were also honest.

He knew he was a soul fairy since he was old enough to understand the ugly scars that ran down his back. He was born as a fairy into a human family and it scared them. He understood. He would've been scared too if his son turned out to be a winged, silent and constantly disappearing baby.

He wouldn't have cut this hypothetical son's wings, though. He would never be able to fathom that. He wouldn't want his child to suffer as he did. That was all in the past anyway. He accepted that it was his fate, to live as someone who wasn't quite fairy or human.

Someone in between. Just like Jun.

"Where's he?" The8 asked and the fairy shrugged, letting her long mane of silky black hair swayed in the wind.

"The place where two extremes meet. A place of connection between mind, body and spirit to the structure of life. You can figure it out, Xu Minghao. After all, only a fairy knows how other fairies think. I wonder if wingless fairies are the same." She giggled, her wings fluttering excitedly by the comment.

The8 frowned and stared at the angel, his steely gaze following her as she floated towards the exit. Her wings became tinted blue, and The8 smirked. Fear had never been pretty on those pristine white wings.

_Two extremes meet...is it 3? After all a triangle always have a third point where both ends connect. A connection between mind, body and spirit with structure. Stability. Bond. The number 4. Is it 34? 43? 3-4? 4-3?_

The8 exhaled a deep sigh. He cracked the riddle, but what was the point when it was all so vague? That was when he looked up to the now showing sign, huge and dead after so many years. In 2, the Christmas special was showing.

Miracle on 34th Street.

 _Found you,_ The8 thought grimly as he strode into the long, dark lane leading to the theatres.

He wasn't afraid anymore. Not when the answer to the question that had been haunting him for nights was right there, waiting for him to ask it.

**

Jun liked Alina.

As a ghost, she was weirdly cheerful and bright, telling him stories of when she was still an aspiring producer and of the boys she had played with during her 27 years of living. She hardly ever talked about why she jumped down the bridge on Chuseok, and he had a feeling it was the reason she still roamed around the world.

"I don't like Rose." Alina confessed, sighing. Jun chuckled as the girl stared at him, that greyish tint on her skin the only proof she no longer belonged in this side of the world.

"She's a fairy. Only kids like them." Jun replied and Alina's face suddenly contorted into an expression of worry.

"Someone's coming for you. Rose is messing with him." Jun hummed to Alina's words, his mind already wrecking for the identity of that uninvited guest.

His heart jumped hopefully at the sound of the theater back door opening, a smile quickly forming on his lips. Only one person knew his specific place in this hideout and wouldn't bother to summon him to the mansion.

"Seungch--"

A pair of cold eyes met his, that giddiness in him gone in a flash.

"Hi, Jun hyung."

What the fuck was The8 doing here?

**

"You all are really adorably stupid, do you know that?" Seungcheol said with a huge laugh.

His members were trembling in Woozi's glass cage, his simple order of not using their powers making them simply useless. They were all huddling Dino, the youngest's wings already forming little icicles. Wonwoo was staring at him with a disappointed and cold glare.

"So Woozi managed to send a message, huh? I would've thought dying would be the end for him, but clearly that pointless heroic ambition of his goes far beyond the grave. Tch." Seungcheol frowned.

"Why...why ar..are you...do...doing this, hyung?" Dino asked, tears brimming on his eyes. Seungheol spared him a look of disgust and pressed his palm against the outer side of the glass cage.

"Because hyung _loves_ you too much, Dino. Hyung wants us to stay together until our last breath. All of us. We're family, aren't we?" Wonwoo gritted his teeth at Seungcheol's words and shouted,

"We're not going to be your puppets anymore! We're not going to be murderers just to satisfy your fucked-up, twisted desire, you psychopath! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Wonwoo yelled.

"Can you kill DK, Wonwoo?" Seungcheol suddenly asked. Wonwoo's wrath bubbled up his body and his body began shaking, the anger too much for it to contain.

"You fucking piece of shit." He spat and Seungcheol smirked.

"I wonder if you'll say the same if I have Mingyu on gunpoint. After all, DK joined us the last. He wasn't even there when Seventeen took control. You two don't even know much about each other."

"What's wrong with sacrificing him if you can get a lifetime with your loved one? With Mingyu?" Seungcheol cackled.

Goosebumps ran all over Wonwoo's body as he met Mingyu's eyes, wide and trembling with fear. He felt like shit. He supposed he _was_ stupid. How could he just lead his members out of the mansion in the dead of the night to his old apartment?

As if Seungcheol wouldn't know, wouldn't found out, wouldn't have noticed his signa hurting! Wonwoo closed his eyes, a stray tear rolling down his cheek.

"No need to cry, Wonwoo. You're freaking me out. I won't kill any of you. Well, not yet. Just tell me where The8 is. Tell me where and I'll raise the temperature a bit. Aren't you afraid Dino is going to die? Hmmm?" Seungcheol pressed and his members looked around at each other.

"Hyung, I'd rather die than tell you where The8 hyung is." Dino said coldly, those eyes who watched Seungcheol in awe since they met were only filled with anger and hate.

"Hahahahahahhahaah!! You too?!! Dino, this is your favourite hyung!! Just fucking tell me!!" Seungcheol shouted as his fist slammed the glass cage.

"Don't you know, Cheol? The more we hate you, the less control you have over us. The longer you hurt us, the more our signas will fade. Do you know what happens when our signas disappear?" Jisoo asked softly, those warm eyes remaining calm even in all the debacle.

"Ohhhh, look, our gentleman Joshua! How does it feels fucking your own brother, huh?" Seungcheol cackled and Jisoo simply stared at him.

"When our signas disappear, a new one will appear. A new Alpha will emerge. And the old Alpha will die in his hands. The clock is ticking, Seungcheol. It won't take long." Jisoo stated, as calm as if he was just reading out his favourite poem.

Seungcheol growled low and slammed the glass cage again and again. Jisoo's eyes never changed and something about that all-knowing look messed with the demon inside Seungcheol.

"You'll live to regret ever going against me. Every single one of you. You all will die the most excruciating death, by the hands of your own friends." Seungcheol announced, as sure of his words as he was of his powers. With one last look, the despicable Alpha walked out of the lab, leaving the members to survive in the 15°C glass cage for God knew how long.

His words remained etched in the members' minds, replaying themselves until every shred of strength in them was sucked away.

Except for Jisoo.

His mind kept on asking the same one question.

How the fuck did Seungcheol know that they were brothers?

**


	9. The Runaway

"So you know." Jun said after a moment of silence. The8 nodded his head. The older guy sighed and sat right back down on one of the theater seats, his shoulders looking heavy as if the world was held down on him.

"How long?" The8 asked.

_How long have you been manipulating our memories?_

"Since the first day I met him. He's my Alpha. I follow whatever he tells me to." Jun chuckled, as if the whole debacle was nothing more than just a failing comedy sitcom he couldn't bear to watch.

"What's the truth?" The8 asked, and he suddenly saw how vague the question was. How he did not even know what to expect as the answer. Jun shrugged again and turned around to face him.

"I don't know, The8. I twist your memories, of course. But that doesn't mean I don't get mine erased." Jun muttered bitterly and dread filled The8's body.

It can't be.

"Seungkwan. Seungkwan has used his powers on us before?!" The visitor exclaimed in shock as a series of chills traveled up his spine. Jun smirked and said,

"Seungcheol hyung was willing to let me mess with your brain however I like. Seungkwans powers is only a trove of second chances to him." The8 stared at him wide eyes glassy and filled with fear and Jun felt his heart thumped loudly, blinding his rational thinking.

_I should tell him._

"I'll tell you the truth that I know. Or at least what I think is the truth. Most of us were kidnapped from our homes. Only Joshua hyung, Jeonghan hyung, Hoshi and Woozi joined Seventeen willingly. We have stumbled upon the truth before. But everything goes back to normal, like nothing ever happened. And... I know specifically, that you once found out about me too. Just like now. You threatened to kill me that one time. But Seungkwan erased your memory. Only yours. Seungcheol hyung wants me to remember after all."

"Remember what?" The8 asked, his voice low and shaky, a clear sign that he was having trouble controlling himself. Jun stared at him for a while.

For a moment there, The8 wondered if they had been in this exact same moment.

"Remember that he's my only saviour. That he's the only one for me. That you can never give me what he can." Jun choked out the words, those eyes, calm as the open sea opened a new wound in The8.

"And what is that?" The moment those words slipped out of his mouth, The8 felt like he had just stumbled upon the one question he was too ashamed to ask yet wanted to know the truth.

"What is it that Seungcheol hyung can give you that I can't?" Jun's eyes narrowed down and he bit his lip.

"You don't want to know." Jun avoided as he looked away from the younger guy. The8 rushed forward, fisting Jun's shirt on the neck area and dragging him lower to meet his eyes.

"Tell me. Just fucking tell me, Wen Junhui!" Their eyes met and Jun laughed then. Laughed. Loudly. Freely. And as The8 stared at him, Jun looked down at those desirable pink lips.

_Do you know how many times we have had our first kiss?_

_How many times you've pushed me away after that?_

_How many times you convinced me that it's not my fault, you're just not into guys..._

_How many times I've begged our dearesg leader to make Seungkwan erase your memory of it?_

_D_ _o you even have a clue how many times I've planned yet another confession, hoping this one might make you mine?_

 

_Xu Minghao, I like you._

 

_I've said that twenty times already._

_You remembered none of it._

 

_What Seungcheol gave me...all that he gave me was what I gave him._

_A shared kiss. A shared bed._

_It didn't matter._

_You couldn't have given me that._

But he couldn't tell The8 that.

So, instead, Jun did what he always did best. Lie.

"He liked me back. He gives me his heart and body. Something you can never."

_Lie, lie, lie, lie!! Lie! LIE!!!_

"You're lying." The8 voiced after a moment as he loosened his hold. Jun laughed and replied,

"How I wish I am." And though it broke him, as the twenty times he had said this before,

"It's okay, Xu Minghao. It's not your fault. It's just the way things are."

"So you're doing whatever Seungcheol wants because he likes you back?"

 

 

_I did it because he would kill you if I don't._

_I did it because he let me yell your name when he's fucking me._

_I did it because he lets me cry into his arms when you reject me again._

_I did it because just like me, his memory is real._

_Unlike me, he never forgets._

 

 

"Yeah. I did it because he likes me back."

Jun disgusted him. The one guy he thought was his closest friend helped Seungcheol to massacre innocent people just because his feelings were reciprocated. He didn't know this man. He couldn't recognise him.

Jun closed his eyes. The heavy footsteps of his one true love faded away as he went far, farther away than he had ever been and Jun fell to the ground. Tears filled his eyes and he cried his heart out.

_I love you too, Wen Junhui. Why can't you just say that?_

**

"Hey, everybody! We're back...?" Seungkwan looked around the empty mansion and turned back to Vernon who scowled.

"Where's everyone?" Vernon asked and Seungkwan narrowed his eyes.

"Yah. You... How would I know, Vernon Hansol Chwe? I just got back from Hungary with you! Ughh.." Seungkwan groaned, exasperated. Quickly, Vernon swooped in and pecked on his cheek. Seungkwan was stunned, staring at his boyfriend with wide eyes and slightly agape lips.

"Go rest. I'll find Seungcheol hyung and ask him where they all are." Seungkwan blushed and nodded his head to Vernon's words.

 _You really know how to make someone feel like the luckiest guy alive, Hansol._ Seungkwan thought as he ran up to their bedroom.

As Seungkwan was opening the door to his bedroom, a familiar humming sound distracted him from his usual daydream of his happy family with Vernon. The humming was so clear, so close...he could almost hear the lyrics of the hummed song in his head.

_Sunday morning, rain is falling..._

"Shua hyung?" He called out but the humming faded as a series of footsteps echoed on the staircase leading up. Curious, Seungkwan walked in huge steps and looked up when he was at the staircase.

No one.

Seungkwan climbed up carefully, well aware that a crime syndicate like them had countless enemies. Most of the enemies were dead, of course, but vengeance would always be a strong motivation. As Seungkwan landed on the top floor of the mansion, he heard footsteps again and the creaking of a door.

Seungkwan turned left, to the source of the sound. A bedroom door was slightly ajar. Seungcheol's. Seungkwan opened his messenger bag, took out the taser Woozi had given him when he first joined the group and approached the door. With soft, silent steps, he got closer and touched the door.

A simple push and..

"What are you doing?" A voice called out from behind him.

Seungkwan jumped and the taser dived to the ground. "Ahh, hyung!!" Seungkwan whined as he turned around, facing the mischievous older member of Seventeen, the Prince of Fire.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just irresistible to tease you. You're back from Hungary, finally." Jeonghan sighed as he pulled the younger into a hug. "Let's go catch up," Jeonghan said and Seungkwan nodded his head.

_If only they entered the room..._

"Hyung, where's everybody?" Seungkwan asked once they both were sitting in Seungcheol's office, beside his bedroom. Well right now it was _their_ bedroom but Jeonghan decided he would just tell the news to all of them at once. It would felt too much to tell Joshua after all. He needed all the distraction he could get.

"They went out on a mission. Seungcheol said Woozi's plan didn't include me because I went missing so they just went on their own and you two were stuck in Hungary. So I've been at this mansion alone for what.... three days now? Seungcheol is always at the lab and he _always_ locks the door so I can't even bother him." Jeonghan sighed and the younger nodded his head before tilting it, slight confused.

"Shua hyung is here, though?" Seungkwan asked and Jeonghan looked at him, puzzled.

"What do you mean? Shua went with the others." Jeonghan pressed sternly, the mention of Joshua putting an edge to his voice and Seungkwan automatically looked out of the window.

In the garden was a butler. The butler that had served the Yoon family for decades. He watched with wide eyes as the old and hunched butler stood straight, his grey hair turning black and his saggy, plump body turned lean and muscular. With a wink, Joshua smiled up at Seungkwan.

"Hyung?" Seungkwan exclaimed softly as he stood up and went closer to the window. The butler was gone. In his place was a bright colored flower, unlike one of those that The8 once tried to grow.

"I must be seeing things." Seungkwan chuckled awkwardly when Jeonghan spared him a concerned look.

"Seungkwan-ah, are you feeling alright? " Seungkwan laughed brightly at Jeonghan's question and suddenly began wiping off non-existent sweat on his face. The jetlag must be getting to me. Hahahahaha, why is it so hot in here? I'll go rest in my room, hyung. Excuse me." Seungkwan as he basically dashed out of the room and went to the garden.

_A flower?_

Seungkwan frowned and picked up the single flower. A zinnia. He remembered it now. He had laughed at the members' attempt to pronounce it a while back. What was it doing here?

Without thinking, he went to The8's room, looking for the quiet, studious soul fairy. The8 knew flowers, spoke their language fluent as a human could be and made bouquets as beautiful and delicate as Japanese flower arrangement masters.

So Seungkwan was really surprised and alarmed when he found another single zinnia, placed at The8's bed. Something about the whole situation was really getting to his nerves. He didn't understand it, and he rarely didn't understand things.

_What is this?_

**

_What is this?_

Jeonghan frowned at the book on top of his desk, that hadn't been there last time. He looked around his former room, one he hadn't stepped in for some time. The familiarity of it wasn't lost on Jeonghan but that feeling that it was no longer his place in the mansion was apparent too. Joshua's bed was meticulous as usual and his was surprisingly tidy too. Joshua must've made his bed too. Suddenly a sharp pain zapped through Jeonghan. They've shared their beds as often as they shared each other's body.

He was used to the mix of pinewood scent and Joshua's cologne in the room, sometimes mixed in with sweat or the smell of sex. Now, the air was just stale and neither of their scents were present. Jeonghan heaved out a deep sigh and returned his eyes to that one thing that have changed since he left.

There on top of his desk, was Joshua's favourite poetry book, Love's Exquisite Freedom by Maya Angelou opened to a page with a poem entitled Touched by An Angel. It was a poem that Joshua once said was theirs. And theirs only. Jeonghan could clearly recall his soft voice, reciting the poem in one of tbeir shared nights,

 

 

_And suddenly we see_

_That love costs all we are_

_And will ever be._

_Yet it is only love_

_Which sets us free._

 

 

Jeonghan closed his eyes tightly. He had never dreamt of a day when Joshua could be such a scar to him. Yet this wound in his heart...

_I'm getting weaker._

Jeonghan was about to close the book when he noticed it. Resting between the two pages was a ripped piece of paper, written haphazardly in Joshua's handwriting. It was a simple exerpt from another poem, one Jeonghan wasn't familiar with, yet the hidden meaning from behind it popped out to him clearer than day _._

 

 

_The pebbles crunch beneath my feet_

_While salty waters kiss the shores_

_It's the morning sun I've come to greet_

_Alas an angel can't be forced_

 

 

The rhyme was wrong. And that was how Jeonghan knew the meaning. He knew exactly what Joshua tried to convey through the poem but as the poem stated,

 

_an angel can't be forced_

 

He would've to make a choice.

**

Contrary to popular beliefs, Vernon wasn't oblivious to everything. Sure he always took some time to fully comprehend a situation and he was quite blunt with his words. And well, yeah, he did fail to notice Seungkwan's reciprocated feelings for about five months. But he was _not_ oblivious.

Which was how he knew something was **terribly** wrong when four members of Seventeen were lying in Woozi's glass cage, all of them as pale as ghosts and not moving at all except for steady breaths.

"What the fuck? Hyung! Hyung! Wake up!" Vernon yelled as he slammed his fist against the glass cage, his shouts not even perking up any of them.

"Fuck!" He shouted in his fear as he rushed to the control panel. The buttons were many and none was labelled and he was scared that a wrong push would harm them.

Vernon looked into the glass cage. Wonwoo, Mingyu, DK and Dino. Woozi wasn't there! He quickly took out his phone and called Woozi.

 _I'm busy. Go the fuck away,_ the voicemail replied.

"Hyung, where are you?! Wonwoo hyung, Mingyu hyung, DK hyung and Dino are locked up in your lab! They look like they're sleeping but I don't know for sure...Hyung, please come back here quickly! Please...please, I don't know what to do....Hyung, if you're far, I'll come pick you up, just tell me where the fuck are you!" Vernon almost yelled into the voicemail.

"Fuck.... what should I do?!!" Vernon stressed and a sudden slam of the laboratory door made him jump.

"You don't have to do anything, Vernon-ah. You'll join them after all." Seungcheol said with a cold glare as he lifted the second youngest member of Seventeen off his feet and pressed a button on the control panel.

The cage opened and Vernon, hopeless without any ground to run on, flopped on the cold floor inside the cage.

"Hyung....what....what are you...." Seungcheol laughed. Vernon was slurry, as if he was very sleepy. In fact, he was feeling very sleepy. The cold floor suddenly felt so relaxing and comfy...

"Just sleep, Vernon-ah. The air pumped in there is laced with a powerful sleeping drug. Don't bother going against it."

"Hyung..." _why are you doing this?_ , he wanted to ask but darkness fell upon him too quickly.

His last thought was of Seungkwan. He never believed much in religions but he prayed to whoever up there that Seungkwan would be safe.

From whatever this was.

Maybe they were right. He was oblivious.

**

"You're still not tired of this place?" Seungcheol asked and Jun clearly flinched in his seat.

"It's much better than that mansion. At least here is home." Jun answered reluctantly and Seungcheol chuckled.

"You haven't been answering your calls. Or coming to the mansion at all." Seungcheol asked as he leaned against the theater seat in front of Jun.

"Don't feel like it. Hyung." The last syllable was spat out like an insult and somehow it felt that way to Seungcheol.

"Listen up, you motherfucker." Seungcheol growled as he grabbed Jun by the neck, forcing him to look up to him.

"Go back to the mansion. To Woozi's lab. Seungkwan is back, you two better get started." Jun's eyes lost their mischievous sparkle as he realised what had happened.

"Again?" He questioned and Seungcheol let go of him.

"The kids are getting smarter and smarter. I would've thought that 7 months ago would be the last time they figured it out." Seungcheol commented as he straightened himself up, heading for the exit.

"Ouh and one more thing, make sure they never met Woozi and Hoshi. Explaining why they're gone would be a pain in the ass, don't you think?" Jun turned around swiftly once Seungcheol's words registered in his mind and his arms reached out to stop his leader before he even realised it.

"What did you do?! Choi Seungcheol, you promised me!" Jun yelled and Seungcheol winced. With a stoic, cold glare, Seungcheol said,

"I promised not to kill everyone. You're still alive, right? Be grateful. Just because those two are gone doesn't mean it's the end of the world." Jun let go of his hold on Seungcheol's forearm and the Alpha laughed.

"I never expected you to be such a loyal dog, Junhui. Maybe after they all go back to usual, I'll set you out to hunt a special someone. After all, aren't animals the only ones that can see fairies?"

"Don't you dare..." Jun snarled and Seungcheol used his powers to invisibly clenched Jun's body in, bruising his arms as they flailed helplessly on his sides.

"I'll do whatever I want, Jun. Settle this mess at the mansion and go find The8. Or else I'll find him myself and leave you to bury what's left of him."

Jun sank to the ground and his whole body shuddered. He should have just hid in the cupboard. He shouldn't have come out. He shouldn't have met Seungcheol. He shouldn't have joined him.

_But then you wouldn't meet Minghao._

"That would be better than killing him with my own hands." Jun whispered to himself as he tried his best not to cry.

_If only you loved me back, Xu Minghao..._

_If only._

_**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that~comments make my day and kudos make me breathless. Seventeen makes my ova---i think everyone knows that. Have a good day with Seventeen songs playing in the background!


	10. The Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is already on its last chapters...enjoy~~

**

Jenghan frowned. Again.

He hated getting wet almost as much as he loved lighting up places with fire. A true-born arsonist biggest enemy is after all, water. But he knew it had to be done. He knew what was waiting for him on the other side. A place only the two of them knew.

Jeonghan straightened up to see his toddler chairs were still there, and the fire in the cave had been lit. With his backside to him, was the one man he sworn not to come close to.

The man turned and Jeonghan felt every little cell in him shaking violently. Joshua. It was Joshua, in his truest form. Jet black hair, those beautiful cat eyes and a little smirk that suited him even more than it ever suited Jeonghan.

"It's been a while. Since we last saw each other." Joshua started calmly and Jeonghan nodded his head, his mouth dry and his head clear from any words.

"It's good seeing you again." Joshua said after a while passed and Jeonghan hurriedly looked away, his eyes somehow stinging with tears.

"Why are you here? Where are the others?" Jeonghan asked and Joshua's face darkened at once.

"Do you trust me?" Joshua asked instead. Jeonghan looked up sharply and their eyes met.

Joshua looked angry. And sad. Miserably sad.

_Why?_

"You've never lied to me. I have no reason not to." Jeonghan shrugged.

_Even when it hurts both of us, you've always been terribly honest. Terribly._

"Choi Seungcheol is not who you think he is. Here. Look. This is the coded message that Woozi sent to us a few days back. Wonwoo cracked it." Joshua exclaimed as he handed Jeonghan the paper in its clear plastic bag.

Jeonghan took it and recognised Wonwoo's rushed, scrawled handwriting at once. His eyes widened with every word that he read and his heart thumped faster in its cage.

"No. No. This must be a misunderstanding. This can't be true. There's no way!" Jeonghan yelled as he threw the paper away, as if it had offended him.

"Yoon Jeonghan! Stop being a kid! See the reality for what it is!" Joshua yelled back and Jeonghan looked at him with deviance in his eyes.

"This is all your plan, isn't it? You know about us and you want to break us apart! You know there's no one I can ask about this because everyone is working and you do this to him? To our Alpha? To our own member?!" Jeonghan shouted at the top of his lungs, his face red with rage.

_You know about us. Us. **Us**._

"What do you mean 'us'?" Joshua asked in a whisper and Jeonghan glared at him coldly.

"We're dating each other. I decided to give him a chance. He's been nothing but good to me." Jeonghan said with a mellow tone, somehow he seemed more sad by the fact than happy.

"Yoon Jeonghan. This is the truth. The members are not 'working'. We planned our escape. We couldn't tell you because The8 couldn't find you when we first found out about the message. So those of us who were there, we ran. But Seungcheol found us. And he locked us in Woozi's lab. The8 wasn't with us when we were caught so he's still out there. We were trapped like animals. Dino was almost dying and our signas were disappearing... That's when Seungcheol pumped sleeping drug into the cage. He didn't want our signas to disappear. But I managed to escape. I disguised myself as your butler and left you the message."

"Yoon Jeonghan. In each pack, there's the Alpha. And the Omega. The Omega is as important as the Alpha, and in some ways, is stronger."

"You're the Omega. You're the glue of the pack. Every member revolves around you. You need to trust me. Please. We need to stop Seungcheol. We need to save the others." Joshua pleaded with his whole being, his eyes sincere as he stared at the only man he had loved. Still loved.

 

Alas an angel can't be forced.

 

"That's some really well-thought story, Joshua. I thought you would never lie to me. But I guess there's a first for everything." Jeonghan spat coldly as he turned around, his whole back burning with Joshua's gaze as he jumped out of the cave and into the shore.

 

 

_It's not true. It's a lie. It's a lie._

 

 

 

(But it didn't feel like it.)

 

**

"You've promised me!" Seungkwan yelled once he saw the love of his life.

"It's only a small scar. It would make him look a bit more edgy, don't you think?" Seungcheol laughed.

In front of him, Vernon was sitting against the cage's wall, his eyes shut in a peaceful, dreamless sleep. Still under the influence of the drug. Tears pricked Seungkwan's eyes as he watched the steady rise and fall of Vernon's chest.

And the steady drip of blood from Vernon's face.

"You're always saying how sharp his jawline is. Well, apparently, my knife is sharper." Seungcheol whispered to Seungkwan, eyeing his handiwork on Vernon's face.

He was such a pretty and optimistic boy. It pissed Seungcheol off to no end. How **clean** the boy was, endlessly looking at his tomorrow as a clear, happy day. Plus, it's a good way to remind Seungkwan to never, ever think of rebelling against him. Unless he wanted Vernon to get the blunt end of his wrath.

"You know what to do. Jun will be here in a while. Make sure you wipe off everything about Woozi and Hoshi. I don't want to even hear their names ever again."

Seungkwan stayed silent and Seungcheol pressed the sharp edge of his knife to Vernon's cheek. Not too hard to draw blood but hard enough to irritate the outer layer of his milky white skin.

"You should answer when an elder speaks to you, Seungkwan-ah. Where's your manners?" Seungkwan nodded his head quickly, glaring at Seungcheol through glassy eyes and the leader stood up.

"Remember, wipe everything." Seungcheol reminded again and Seungkwan nodded his head.

Trembling, Seungkwan reached out to Vernon. The thought of setting Vernon free came again, just like all those times before. Except he had never seen Seungcheol hurt Vernon so carelessly, sadistically before.

He could do it. Right now and then. If Vernon wasn't here, he didn't need to do this anymore. He wouldn't get threatened by Seungcheol anymore.

If only he could run with Vernon...he couldn't. He needed to stay here. For the other members. To make them forget those horrible things that would've plagued their lives. It wouldn't be far-fetched to say some would readily take their own lives if it meant not harming others anymore.

 

He needed to stay. But not Vernon.

 

With shaking hands, Seungkwan unknotted the ropes tying Vernon. The boy leant forward once the ropes were untied, unconsciously leaning against Seungkwan's chest.

"You'll regret that." Jun's voice from behind him startled the life out of Seungkwan. Still, he refused to turn around.

"He'll make you search for him. He'll make you watch him torture that boy you love so much. It will hurt much more than this." Jun said softly, those harsh words sending chills up Seungkwan's spine.

"Then do you want to keep doing this, hyung? Over and over? We have too much blood in our hands. Do I still have to carry this guilt too?" Jun was taken aback by Seungkwan's voice, low and strong in his stand.

"Seungkwan-ah..."

"If he runs away, he'll be happy, hyung. And I'll be happy too. I just have to forget him. Lucky for me... that's my power. Forgetting." Seungkwan whispered more to himself as he stroked Vernon's face.

"Seungcheol will be mad. And we both don't know what his madness will bring to us. You know what actually happened to Woozi and Hoshi, right? He'll find everyone. He always does." Jun tried to rationalize but Seungkwan's empty expression and stoic eyes only served to remind him how pointless his efforts were.

"I'm not asking to free everyone, hyung. Just Vernon. Before that crazy psycho ruins everything that I love about him."

Seungkwan sobbed and Jun felt his heart hurting for the young boy in front of him. He messed things up with The8 so he was prone to sympathize with the young couple, and so he did.

"Fine. I'll wake him up from sleep." Jun finally sighed. Seungkwan turned around, finally, and looked at the older member.

"I don't want to carry this guilt too." Jun said simply before he closed his eyes and placed his forefingers on Vernon's forehead.

"Vernon Hansol Chwe."

"Yes." The boy answered as his eyes opened and focused on Jun. Seungkwan looked at the boy and pressed an innocent kiss against his cheek.

"Goodbye, Vernon." Vernon's gaze didn't flatter from Jun's eyes, as they should, but Seungkwan swore he felt Vernon's fingers clenching slightly on the fabric of his sleeve.

 

_I'll come back for you, Seungkwan._

 

_Even if you forget._

 

**

Jeonghan looked at the mansion. The lights were on since it was night and he could hear the laughter resonating from the dining room. With cautious steps, Jeonghan walked into the room. Six faces smiled up at him as Dino immediately held onto his arms.

"Hyung~where did you go? I thought you would be waiting anxiously for me here." Dino said with a bright laugh and Jeonghan smiled too.

"How did the mission go?" Jeonghan asked and Mingyu shrugged as he placed his last serving of spagbol on the dining table.

"Same old. Same old. It was a little lacking without your colourful fire, hyung." Jeonghan smiled as he settled down between Seungkwan and DK, laughing at their jokes and chiming into the conversation.

"Oh, where's Woozi and Hoshi?" Jeonghan asked after a while. Six clueless faces turned to him and Wonwoo asked,

"Who's that, hyung?" A terrible sense of dread filled Jeonghan. Instantly, he grabbed on Seungkwan's forearm beside him and asked,

"Where's Vernon?" Seungkwan furrowed his eyebrows even more and asked,

"Hyung, are you feeling okay? Who are these people you're asking about?" Jeonghan's face paled and Seungkwan let his cutlery clattered on his plate as he turned to the senior member.

"Hyung, is something wrong?" Seungkwan asked softly, his huge eyes filled with concern. Jeonghan barked out a nervous laughter and patted Seungkwan's back.

"Nothing. I'm just messing with you all. You wouldn't know who Joshua is, would you?" His heart thumped hopefully but that silver lining was crushed as DK grinned like the sunshine he was and shook his head definitely.

"Nope. Hyung, you're getting better at pranking people~I was almost fooled just then." At DK's answer, the other members around the table laughed in their usual carefree manner, each commenting on his 'good sense' and 'fresh trick'.

They didn't notice as Jeonghan crumbled, realising the truth behind Joshua's words, even as he masked it all with a wide, fake smile as members around him continued their animated conversation.

"Where's Seungcheol?" Jeonghan asked and for once, the members' faces showed relief as Dino answered that Cheol was in his office.

With a wider, faker grin, Jeonghan stormed up the flights of staircases to Seungcheol's office. His face was contorted as his signa began hurting, a clear sign of his distrust towards Seungcheol.

"What the fuck did you do?!" Jeonghan yelled as his fire burst open the door.

Seungcheol was sitting in his armchair, a map of Seoul spread on his desk as he looked up to Jeonghan.

"So it's you." Seungcheol exclaimed as pain radiated from his own signa.

Jeonghan was fuming, his chest rose and fell with uneven rhythm as he walked towards Seungcheol, his every step traced with fire.

"Is it true? You killed Woozi and Hoshi?" Jeonghan asked desperately and Seungcheol looked away.

" I didn't." Jeonghan breathed out a huge sigh as relief washed over him. But it was short-lived.

"They killed themselves." Seungcheol answered in that steady, calm voice.

Jeonghan fell to the ground as soon as those words entered his mind.

"You fucker!!!" Sobs wrecked through his body like storms as fire oozed out of his every cell like fountain. It engulfed him and wrapped around him like a cocoon of safety and warmth. But he only felt crazy.

This couldn't be happening. There's no way. It had always been the five of them before the rest.

Seungcheol. Woozi. Hoshi. Jeonghan. Joshua.

The early ones. The crazy ones. The ambitious ones.

So, why? Why??? WHY?????

"Why?" Jeonghan asked as his hand, wrapped with fire, choked Seungcheol in ease. He raised Seungcheol off the ground and the Alpha....

Smiled.

"Look at you, Yoon Jeonghan. Look at me. Look at us! We're born with these powers because we are special. We deserve everything the world has to offer. I'm not stopping because of stupid law that common men made for their sake. Or filthy low-lives who think just because they're in uniform, they can stop me. They can't! No one can!"

We're the most powerful, the almighty. People will fear our names and bow at us. Don't you want that, Jeonghan? To be treated like a prince, _an actual one,_ instead of just a namesake? It can happen, Jeonghan. We can make it happen."

"What's a few measly lives compared to the build of an empire?" Seungcheol's crazed laughter filled the heated air and Jeonghan trembled as he let the Alpha go.

He needed to go away from all this. As far away from Seungcheol as he could. He needed to escape.

Or he'll burn everyone in the house.

And everyone who tried to stop him.

Jeonghan closed his eyes and he felt the fire around him getting stronger, warmer but not scalding, like a warm bath after a hard day, comforting and lulling and he closed his eyes...

He couldn't feel the ground under his feet anymore. Or the smell of burning rugs. Or the voice of his only leader. He could only sense the heat and the fire.

The warm, warm fire.

**


	11. The 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you all might already know, this is not beta'ed. I would really appreciate it if you guys can look past any grammatical or spelling errors... anyway, this fic only has two chapters left and the next one will have a special gift for y'alls~~ stay tuned (?) and enjoy~~~

"Hyung, let's start." Seungcheol snapped out of his daydream and looked left to his youngest subordinate. Dino had a grim expression on his face, just like every other face in the suffocating room.

With a nod, he turned around to face his members, the remaining ones, sitting on the couch of his office.

Behind him was a transparent board where he had pinned up a very familiar face to all of them.

"Our mission is to find Jeonghan. As you all probably figured out, Jeonghan's last time being seen was with me in the office. We had a little talk and everything was doing great. Then, someone crashed in through the window," Seungcheol gestured to the huge hole on the window.

It was quick thinking that he threw a stone to the window after Jeonghan's unleashed fury.

"Jeonghan used his powers to protect me but in that moment of chaos, he got himself taken by the intruder. It's vital that we find him as fast as possible. But for now we only have one clue. This guy." Seungcheol pressed as he pinned up another face.

This one was familiar too, but only for him. At least now. It used to be familiar to all of them.

"Joshua Jisoo Hong. People on the streets call him The Mask. Has a very wild obsession towards Jeonghan." Seungcheol growled low and Jun looked away to find someone who he had always been looking for.

Wait, what? Who?

Jun shook his head and tried to focus instead on Seungcheol's words but there was that something nagging on the back of his mind...

He had always been looking secretly at someone, it was a habit...but who?

"Jun! Wen Junhui!" Seungcheol yelled out and Jun looked up to the leader hastily.

"Why?" He asked with a sheepish grin and Seungcheol sighed.

"You and and Wonwoo, go spread the word to the underlings. Tell them to look out for him. Though we might never know what he looks like..." Seungcheol muttered bitterly.

"Why is that?" Seungkwan asked, looking at that smiling, cat-like face of the kidnapper. _He sure is hot,_ Seungkwan thought before chastising himself.

_Stop it, Boo Seungkwan. You're taken, remember?_

Huh?

What was that?

_I'm not taken...am I?_

"Because he can changes appearances. He can mimic everyone like a carbon copy, totally similar." Seungcheol said dismissively and the members nodded their heads.

Seungkwan's eyebrows were still furrowed. He was so sure that he wasn't available...but he _was_ single.... wasn't he?

With a quick shake of his head, Seungkwan dismissed the thought. He had more important things to do. Such as finding the bastard who took away Jeonghan hyung.

He didn't notice Seungcheol's nervous gaze or the leader's thumping heart.

**

"Vernon." The8 called out. Vernon turned around, his tear-streaked face illuminated dimly by the soft lighting in the closed bar.

"Hyung." He strangled out and The8 frowned. He had never seen Vernon so...broken, before.

"You can't keep on like this." The8 advised with his soft voice and Vernon bit his lip.

It had been two days. When The8 found Vernon on their old hideout, a warehouse on the outskirts of the city, the boy had been running non-stop, his shoes worn off and his feet bloody. His memory was not harmed, but when The8 showed him a picture of Seventeen, it was obvious something had been done to him.

Because there would be no way on Earth that Vernon didn't know Seungkwan.

So The8 talked about him. About the boy who arrived at the mansion on a cold winter night, his nose red like a clown and a transparent mist emitting from him. Boo Seungkwan, he had declared his name and with it, he had claimed his spot in the group.

Almost seventeen stories later, Vernon suddenly cried and started pleading to The8. "We need to save him. Please, we can't leave Seungkwan with that monster! Hyung...help me!" So he had pleaded for hours and that was when The8 realised it.

As cliche as it was, true love managed to break the spell on Vernon's memory. He remembered the boy he had loved so much.

And it almost killed him.

The8 had to calm the boy down and spiked his drink with sleeping drug so he would actually be still enough for The8 to treat his wounds. It stopped him from moving around, restless but it didn't stop the tears. And neither the longing.

The fire crackled low on the fireplace and The8 stared at it. From where he was sitting, patting the back of one of his dongsaengs, he could make out an outline that insanely looked like a man, hugging his knees. As Vernon continued to list out ways to save his lover (and The8 pretending he was listening to all of it), the fire burnt brighter and brighter. That outline became clearer and The8 watched carefully, slightly alarmed as the crouching man began to unravel himself, the fire a blanket covering him.

"What the FUCK?!!" The8 shouted as the figure turned, looking at him.

That was when the lights went out and the two young men was enveloped in darkness. "Hyung, what's happening?" Vernon asked, alarmed as his grip on The8's arm grew stronger.

Snap!

Even the sound of snapping fingers was enough to make the two members of the most deadly gang in South Korea jumped.

A small floating fire and a face slightly lit by the light made the two slip off their fighting stance and with that, the lighta flickered back into life.

"I don't know what happened." Was the first words that slipped off the intruder's mouth.

"Jeonghan hyung." Was what The8 replied.

**

"How did you find him?" Mingyu asked Dino and the boy merely shrugged.

"I was resting at the beach, and one of those flyers we give to our underlings flew. He found a flyer and said he wanted to meet Seungcheol hyung anyway. But it's kind of strange." Dino scowled.

"Why?" Wonwoo asked, appearing out of thin air. Dino jumped at the older member's cold breath against his neck and glared at the newcomer.

"Hyung! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"What are you? A grandpa? I thought you would be immune by now. Anyway, tell us. What's strange?" Wonwoo pressed and Dino shrugged yet again.

"He knows my real name. And he knows the mansion. Like the inside of the mansion. The rooms, the hallways...he even called me out for making a wrong turn when I brought him in. He told me to say to Seungkwan that 'the two mean goodbyes'. I don't know what that meant but I told him anyway. I don't think Seungkwan hyung knows either." Dino said.

"That's kind of creepy..." Mingyu shivered and Wonwoo chuckled.

"Why? A big guy like you wants protection? Hyung will protect you always so don't worry." Wonwoo laughed and Mingyu scowled, his tanned skin blushing up quickly.

"He's a goddamn stalker. I wouldn't be surprised that he knows the house well. And we sometimes slip off and call your real name in public. He must've overheard." Seungcheol replied as he stepped into the lab.

The three members immediately straightened up at Seungcheol's presence. The leader chuckled and nodded his head towards the three.

"How is he doing?" Seungcheol asked, peering at the CCTV footage on the screen. Joshua was sitting on a chair in the middle of the glass cage, his head bowed down as his hands and feet were in restraints.

"We covered the glass windows with a white screen a while ago but he hasn't done anything. Ouh and hyung, do you know there's build-in showers and drain pipes in there in case you want to drown someone? It's really cool. And evil too." Mingyu said giddily.

"How do you know that?" Seungcheol snapped and Mingyu frowned. He pulled out a thick manual guide and held it out to Seungcheol.

"I found this while cleaning up this place. It's written by...Woozi? It said there, right? 'LAB MANUAL FOR MORONS by Woozi'. I don't remember any Woozi... Did someone used this lab before we did?" Mingyu pondered and Seungcheol immediately snatched the manual from Mingyu.

"Leave. Leave! All three of you!" Seungcheol yelled and the three immediately hurried away, Dino even flapping his wings to skip his way out.

"Hyung is being really weird. Like, really really weird." Dino voiced out. Beside him, Mingyu nodded his head.

"You know that picture...that you saw in Seungcheol's drawer? There's a few unknown faces, right?" Wonwoo asked Dino. The youngest nodded.

"Can you steal the picture from Seungcheol hyung? I need to take a closer look." Wonwoo requested.

"Hyung, you know Seungcheol hyung always get pissed when his stuff goes missing...." Dino trailed off. Quick as lightning, Wonwoo grabbed on his arm.

Wonwoo's touch was ice cold, just like every other part of his body. It startled Dino less than that look on his face. He looked scared and something about that scared Dino too.

"It's really important." Wonwoo voiced out. In the end, Dino agreed to his request.

"But hyung...if Seungcheol hyung finds out, I'll tell him you put me up to it."

Wonwoo shrugged it off because he was at least a little step closer to proving it. What 'it' was....well, that was what he had to found out, didn't he?

As he got cosy in his favourite armchair, facing south of the garden, he took a look at the letter again.

_Jeon Wonwoo. Don't believe a thing Seungcheol says. Trust in yourself and only you. Remember, Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Woozi, Mingyu, The8, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, Dino and you. That's SEVENTEEN. The only SEVENTEEN. This is a letter from you, Jeon Wonwoo. Trust in yourself._

"Just what on earth is going on?" Wonwoo sighed, reading the letter again and again.

The five unknown names..why were there traces of them all over the mansion?

A small, neat writing of 'this belongs to The8' on one of the gardening books.

That lab manual written by Woozi.

Scratches of Hoshi's name on one of the bedroom doors.

An acoustic guitar on the (spare?) bed in front of Jeonghan's with 'Joshua' carved into its side.

Mixtapes with 'Vernon's, don't touch!!' written hurriedly on the front.

Was Joshua really a stalker? Why was there proof of him living amongst them then?

"I'll figure it out. All by myself." Wonwoo mumbled as he looked out of the window. Seungcheol was on the garden, and Seungkwan came to him, carrying flowers. Two flowers.

Two.

_He told me to say to Seungkwan that 'the two mean goodbyes'._

_"Seungkwan, what are those?" Wonwoo asked, looking at the wilting flowers on the dining table._

_"Flowers? I found them on my desk. Maybe I bought them and forgot about it." Seungkwan shrugged._

_"What flower is it?" Wonwoo asked and Seungkwan hummed as he thought to himself._

_"I think they're called zinnia? I'm not sure, you better ask Th--" Seungkwan paused, his face contorted in confusion. Then, the boy laughed, thinking how silly he was being, and Wonwoo didn't had the insight to inquire further._

He wished he did.

"Who? Who was it that you wanted me to ask?" Wonwoo said to himself as he saw Seungcheol taking the flowers from Seungkwan and scolding him.

Seungkwan walked away after that, an apparent pout on his mouth and Seungcheol crushed those flowers under his shoes.

"What do you want to hide so much, Seungcheol hyung?" Wonwoo asked the wind and as if it wanted to answer, footsteps began to flurry outside of his bedroom door.

Knocks...and fading footsteps. On the floor was a picture, and Wonwoo picked it up quickly.

_13 boys...for 13 names._

**

"You want to kill us. That's your plan?" The8 replied with biting sarcasm as Jeonghan sighed again.

"Minghao...we have to save them. We need to. They're our family. We can't let them harm innocent people, or get harmed themselves." Jeonghan coaxed and The8 looked at him with those sharp eyes.

"I don't know what happened that you can use your powers on Seungcheol, but I can't. I can't use my powers once I went out of the mansion. And Vernon is injured."

"I'm fine, hyung. I can help."

"You're not! You'll lose your feet if you as much as walk around for these few days!" The8 yelled at the youngest among the three and Jeonghan groaned.

"Why? Why?! WHY?!!" Jeonghan yelled in his frustration and The8 winced. The Korean man slammed the table in front of him and gritted his teeth. When he looked up, there was that burning fire in his eyes that The8 had never seen before. He didn't think that fire had existed before.

With a deep breath, he straightened up and said those words that The8 had been dreading since his arrival.

"Fine then. I'll go by myself."

**

"I know that he went to you. Jisoo-ah, just tell me where Jeonghan is. It's that simple. And I'll stop this, all of this." Seungcheol said softly, almost, _almost_ as soft as the blade gliding the outline of Jisoo's arm.

"I don't know where the fuck he is." Jisoo grinned. Seungcheol glared at the young guy and suddenly, Jisoo said,

"Hey Seungcheol, remember him?" Jisoo asked as that little grin turned into a little smirk and Seungcheol found his oldest friend staring back at him.

"Seungcheol-ah. Why did you kill me? Why did you kill Hoshi? Why? Why??" Seungcheol's eyes wavered as Woozi's face turned to Hoshi and those pleasing questions were asked again, and again and again.

But the last straw was when Jisoo replicated himself as Jeonghan.

"Cheol-ah. I don't love you. I can't. Ever." Jisoo said slowly, with that soft, lilting voice of Jeonghan's and those liquid brown eyes staring deep into Seungcheol's eyes. Seungcheol's confusion turned to wrath and he charged for the man in the chair.

"Why?? Why?! Why is it always him?! Why do you always choose that piece of shit??! He's your brother, Yoon Jeonghan!! I made him your brother, so why?? Why....why do you still love him so much?!" Seungcheol yelled with his fists on Jisoo's shirt, shaking the life out of the bound man.

_I made him your brother._

"You made me his brother?" Jisoo repeated slowly, his fake facade slipping off as he stared at his leader in disbelief.

Seungcheol chuckled, letting go of his grip on Jisoo's collar. "Did you really think you two were brothers? _Brothers?_ Haven't I told you before, Jisoo? Memories don't necessarily mean the truth. But what the fuck does that even matter anyway? Even if I made you his dad, you two will just work that shit out. He. Will. Still. Fucking. Choose. You." Seungcheol gritted as he backed out of the glass cage and with one press of a button, he sealed it off.

Joshua stared as Seungcheol stayed behind the control panel, looking at one of the many buttons.

"But you know...." He looked up to the prisoner.

"I wonder if he'll choose you when you're dead." With those words, water started to pour down on Jisoo, fast and crushing from the showers on the cage's ceiling.

"No! NO! YOU MOTHERFUCKER! CHOI SEUNGCHEOL!!" Jisoo yelled his heart out as the water started to pool on the cage floor, rising up with alarming speed as he struggled to free himself from the restrains.

"Say hello to Woozi and Hoshi from me. Tell them I'm not sorry. And tell them, enjoy hell." Seungcheol said with a manical grin as he strided out of the lab, those vivid blue eyes filled with nothing but glee.

"No...No... I don't want to die like this...Please..." Joshua pleaded to nobody as the water reached his hips.

_Please, please....at least let me tell him I love him one last time....._

_Please._

**


	12. The Tragedy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so late I'm so sorry

The heavy wood and steel door creaked as it swung open and Jeonghan breathed out a sigh of relief. The wine cellar, dimly lit by the low-hanging lights greeted him as well as the serious face of his butler.

"You did a great job keeping this tunnel open, uncle." Jeonghan greeted and the butler frowned.

"I didn't even know of its existence until just now, master." He replied with a monotonous voice.

"Sure you didn't." Jeonghan sighed and the butler held open his hand to show a set of keys.

"The person you're looking for is in the laboratory, master. He appears to be in distraught. You might want to hurry." The butler exclaimed and Jeonghan took the keys.

"Uncle...Jisoo, have you seen him?" Jeonghan asked and the butler looked up in surprise.

"You mean your brother, Jisoo?" Jeonghan frowned at the butler's question.

"How do you know it's my brother?"

"Master Jeonghan, I...I know I shouldn't say his name." The butler said hesitantly and Jeonghan rushed forward, his face centimetres away from the old man's.

Why shouldn't _you_ say his name?" The butler's usually blank eyes were scared, wide as they stared at Jeonghan's flaming hands.

"Don't kill me! Please!" The butler pleaded and Jeonghan immediately killed his fire.

"What do you mean with that? How do you know him? Do you know my real parents? Is that it?" Jeonghan asked and again, fire began to coat his hands.

His powers were harder to control these days. So was his wrath. Jeonghan stared coldly as the butler straightened up and opened his mouth.

"Your real father is the late master, Jeong Gihwan. Your mother is Hwang Yeona, a commoner. Your father married a woman of status and abandoned your mother. Your brother, Jisoo was born a while after the marriage. Your parents' relationship didn't end.

"The late madame wasn't happy with it and sent people to threaten your mother. Your mother ran away, afraid that she'll lose her life. Those people found you and Jisoo and took you two in. The madame didn't have children and raised you both like her own. Of course, then they adopted another girl because Jisoo wanted a friend. Then, that tragedy happened." The butler trailed off and Jeonghan frowned.

"What the fuck are you saying?? The late master and madame are my uncle and aunt! They died in a car accident. And Jisoo went to foster care. I..."

_Never trust your own memory._

_"Welcome to Seventeen, Yoon Jeonghan. First rule in here, don't trust anyone, not even your own memories."_

Seungcheol had said that. Seungcheol had said that once he decided to join the group, after he met Hoshi, Woozi and.... and Jun.

 

Jun.

 

 

"The tragedy, tell me more about it." Jeonghan whispered after a while.

"Well, three young men broke into the mansion deep in the night. They almost managed to escape but your little sister woke up in the middle of the night and saw one of them. Jisoo woke up too when he heard her scream and the robber shot them. I got up and when I went upstairs, your parents and siblings were already in a pool of blood. I locked you in your room because I do not want you to see them and...you ran away." The butler finished.

"Hanyoon." Jeonghan whispered and the butler nodded his head.

"It's the name you used before their death. When you got home from running away, you brought along your...friends, and they called you Jeonghan and so did I. I assumed it was because you did not want to be reminded of your family's death." The butler added hesitantly.

"My little sister's name, what is it?" Jeonghan asked, as a sudden wave of hurt pressed against his head and he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Mirae. Jeong Mirae. Jeong Hanyoon. Jeong Jisoo. We called the three of you,"

"The copycats. Because they follow whatever I do." Jeonghan said suddenly as the headache cleared out and every pieces of puzzles he had spent his life obsessing over, dropped into places.

Without another word, he left the butler.

His memories, the real one, the ones that nobody had tampered with had returned.

The hurt, the loneliness, the guilt, all that he had thrown away the moment he joined Seventeen were back.

He remembered that night.

He remembered the life before Seventeen and afterwards in crystal vision.

 

 

He understood now what evil Seungcheol was.

 

 

Seungcheol must have not known that on the worst night of Jeonghan's life, through the dim lights of the corridor, Jeonghan had seen two vivid blue eyes glaring in silence.

 

And he had sworn to burn the man who shot his little siblings, the innocent angels who had done nothing wrong...

 

He will burn that murderer until he was nothing more than just dust.

 

 

***

Jisoo began to close his eyes. His chest hurt, digging inside him, trying to find oxygen in his floating body. Darkness was enveloping him, like a cold blanket bringing him somewhere he didn't want to go...

"Shua, Shua. Shua! SHUA!"

"HERGHH!" Joshua gasped as he splurted out water, gasping huge breaths of oxygen in as he opened his eyes.

"Shua, Shua.." Warm kisses littered his face, as he opened his eyes to the bright lab, and a mop of brown hair fuzzing around.

"..Hannie?" Shua whispered and the figure, blurred out by his teary eyes nodded his head. Immediately, Shua wrapped his arms around Jeonghan, silently thanking the God above for hearing his prayers.

 

 

"I love you."

 

I love you so much. I love you until my last day." Joshua muttered into Jeonghan's ears, the latter's body shaking as those words filled both of them with warmth that didn't exist in the room.

"I love you too. I love you, I love you, Hong Jisoo." Jeonghan whispered back, his whole body trembling as they were locked in a tight embrace.

"We're not brothers, Jeonghan." Jisoo said as he let his head rest on Jeonghan's shoulder.

"I know. I know everything, Shua." Jeonghan said as he pulled back.

Shua opened his eyes and smiled at Jeonghan. He got to see him again. He was breathing and he could feel Jeonghan's warmth again.

"No. Shua....your eyes...." Jeonghan gasped, horrified and Jisoo felt his heart sank.

"Are they grey?" Shua asked even though he already knew the answer.

Jeonghan nodded his head. Shua smiled at Jeonghan and said,

"It's okay. I'm fine. I traded my powers for a chance to tell you I love you. That's everything that I want." Shua said softly and Jeonghan pulled him in a tight embrace once again.

"We need to go now!" A voice suddenly shouted from the entrance of the lab.

"The8..." Jeonghan strangled out as the familiar figure came nearer.

"I left Vernon alone. We need to hurry." The8 exasperated, but there's a tiny smile making its way on his face.

"Bring Joshua to the bar. I have something to say to Seungcheol." Jeonghan declared, kissing Jisoo's forehead. The8 looked worried and Jisoo grabbed on Jeonghan tightly.

"He killed my family, Shua. I can't just let him free." Jeonghan reasoned but Shua's grip didn't lose its bite.

"I'll get back to you safely. I promise. We'll see each other very soon. You don't have to worry." Jeonghan smiled, though his own heart was hesitant as he kissed Joshua's forehead again.

"Take care of him." Jeonghan said to The8 and the younger nodded his head.

"Yoon Jeonghan!" Shua yelled and Jeonghan turned around.

Immediately, Josua bummed their heads together. "I love you. Don't forget." Jeonghan nodded his head and gripped Jisoo's hand one last time before marching out of the laboratory.

Just like last time, only one place was in his mind. Seungcheol's office.

 

Unlike last time, he knew the truth and he had a promise to fulfill.

 

 

***

"You'll die today." Jeonghan said once he burst into the office. Seungcheol looked up, surprise etched into his every cell as the man he last expected to storm into his office did just that.

 

 

"Yoon Jeonghan."

 

 

"Was it fun? Seeing me running around carelessly, stupidly oblivious to the fact that my family's murderer is the one I call my best friend?" Jeonghan asked coldly, cocking a gun to Seungcheol's face.

"What? How do you--" Seungcheol stopped and Jeonghan's face darkened. Seungcheol slipped off his fake facade and smiled.

"Do you want to know the reason?" He asked and Jeonghan frowned, using both of his hands now to aim more carefully to Seungcheol's heart.

"I wanted you. It was supposed to be just a simple robbery. So I went on stakeout to know your routines. That was the first time I see you. You had everything in the world, Jeonghan. Family, wealth, love. So I decided to take one of the many. I took your family and gave you another one. SEVENTEEN! A tribute to the 17 years old us when we met for the first time. I wanted you to see me. To be with me. To be by my side. Forever. I wanted you, and I still do." Seungcheol laughed then something caught his eyes.

There at the corner of his eyes, Seungcheol could barely make out the figures of two people hiding in the shadows, one visibly moving slower than the other.

Jeonghan saw it more clearly, Jisoo and The8 making their way out of the mansion through the gardens. Stealthily, he moved slowly towards the window, covering them from Seungcheol's line of vision.

"Goodbye, Cheol." Jeonghan said as he closed his eyes and pressed the trigger, repeatedly.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"You should really aim with open eyes, Jeonghan." Seungcheol said clearly as the glass window behind Jeonghan started to shatter.

Jeonghan opened his eyes and saw bullets stopping in mid-air as Seungcheol's open palm held them there. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the bullets turned back to Jeonghan. Immediately Jeonghan built a wall of blue fire in front of him and waited for the bullets to came.

1

2

3

They did not come.

The man was not aiming for him.

 

 

"Goodbye, Joshua."

 

 

"AGHHHHHH!"

 

A scream echoed from the garden followed by a dull thud and screams of The8's voice calling Joshua's name .

Jeonghan turned around as fast as lightning to see Joshua's slender figure on the ground, his hands clutching at the gushing bullet wounds on his body. 

 

No. There's no way. No.

 

"No. SHUA!" Jeonghan yelled, his eyes frozen at what was before him.

Jeonghan shattered. His whole being was bursting at the seams as tears exploded from inside of him. He couldn't....he couldn't breath. He couldn't think. Joshua. It was Joshua. The bullets were meant for Joshua and he didn't stop them. Even with all his powers, he couldn't save his one true love.

The8 shook his head as he too, clutched helplessly on the holes of Joshua's body. But it was far too late, the wounds were far too many. As Jeonghan turned around, he faced a laughing Seungcheol.

"Is it cliche? I can't have you and so will no one." Seungcheol said coldly as tears streamed down Jeonghan's face. His hands itched to wipe those tears away but the pool of black fire underneath Jeonghan looked as threatening as those eyes that spelled murder to him.

 

_If I die, I'll die in your hands and yours only._

***

"Who are you?" Jun asked to that stranger, clutching the body of the prisoner. The stranger looked up and with those teary eyes, he called out Jun's name.

"Junhui. Wen Junhui." Something snapped in Jun's mind. That desperate look in his eyes and that beautiful voice calling out his name.

"Please. Just stop everything. Just stop this! Please!" The stranger pleaded as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"What?" Jun asked out and suddenly, the stranger rushed to him.

"Wait, hold on--wha--"

Soft. His lips were soft, gentle and a little salty as his tears seeped into their kiss. Their lips sealed and Jun felt something like a switch went off in his head. The kiss continued and progressed and then Jun realised what it was he felt changed in him.

His control. He just let it go when they kissed.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He yelled at the stranger and suddenly he felt a burn.

A heavy burn trailing from his toes up to his head. It hurt, it felt like a million little butterflies trying to escape him. It felt like every single thread of action he had done was undoing themselves. He felt like dying.

***

"What's happening? Wonwoo hyung!" Seungkwan asked as the second oldest member of Seventeen gripped his arm and pulled him into his bedroom.

"We need to go to Cheol hyung's office! I heard gunshots. Do you have a spare gun here?" Seungkwan asked anxiously.

Without a word, Wonwoo pulled out a picture of 13 boys and showed them to Seungkwan. "Do you remember him?" Wonwoo asked, pointing to that smiling figure beside Seungkwan and Seungkwan frowned.

"How would I know who he is?! Wonwoo hyung, this is not the time! We need to go to Cheol hyung's office!" Seungkwan exasperated.

Then, Wonwoo pressed the play button on his cd player.

"Ehem, ehem. Mic test. Urm....Chwe Hansol Vernon here. Uh...so it's our anniversary, right? I made this a while ago but today's date inspired me. Boo Seungkwan, you're the love of my life. Here goes.

 

 

I want to play it cool in front of you.

Act like everything's alright and it's all good.

Sure you can see through me as if I'm transparent.

Read me like a good book, never can riddle.

You took the best of me and make it better.

Take the worst of me, babe, you make it disappear.

I swear I won't write sutpid love songs but when they're about you, they're masterpieces.

I'm not bragging, really but I just know

This is us, this is you and me, together, it's pointless to show

Everybody else what this love is about when it's the truest they can get.

 

 

"That's the rap part. Will you sing the chorus of our song for me? I'll let you name it. Hahahah, I love you Boo Seungkwan."

 

 

 

"Always."

Seungkwan fell to the ground. That voice, those words, that feeling underneath those words shook him up like nothing else ever did.

It was him.

The boy he loved.

The only one who mattered.

 

"Vernon." Seungkwan whispered as the half-American boy's smile began to taunt him, blurred and painful at the back of his mind.

Just as suddenly, a sudden pain started jabbing on his head. Seungkwan groaned loudly as he laid down on the floor, groaning. Colourful glowing threads appeared underneath his skin and that was when he understood it all.

 

He had been stealing other people's memories.

 

He had been throwing away his own.

 

"Just let go, Seungkwan. It's fine. It's not your fault." Wonwoo encouraged softly and with those sad eyes, Wonwoo pressed on Seungkwan's forehead.

Seungkwan screamed as threads of memory escaped his whole body, floating and flying around, trying to find their respectful owners. Seungkwan closed his eyes and tried to focus on the memories resurfacing in his mind.

 

 

 _Hey._ A soft smile from a handsome boy.

 

 _Wanna hang out sometimes?_ A shy grin.

 

 _Don't. Stay with me, please?_ A scared plea.

 

 _I like you._ A sweet confession.

 

 _I love you._ A promise of forever and always.

 

"How could I forget you, Vernon?" Seungkwan asked the wind as the final threads of memory floated out of his mind.

Wonwoo gasped as his threads of memory settled in him, fast and displayed in front of his own eyes. This was it, this was the truth. This was what he was trying to discover.

 

 **Interesting, Jeon Wonwoo. I didn't think you would figure it out. Of course, Boo Seungkwan. I didn't expect you to return those memories too. I miscalculated huh. Indeed, humans are interesting**.

A certain someone (or something) mused. In the midst of the confusion and chaos, he made his way to the person he had made a deal with.

***


	13. The End

***

The black fire spread out like water, starting from beneath Jeonghan's two feet until it engulfed the entire room. The fire was cold to the bones and Jeonghan's eyed were little lights in the darkness.

"Death is too little of a punishment." Jeonghan muttered and Seungcheol smirked.

The Alpha raised his hand, and curled it into a fist, adamant to crush Jeonghan's body until it crumbled inside. But nothing happened. He raised his hand again, confused and still, nothing happened.

"You're powerless here Cheol. They have the powers." Jeonghan said as suddenly, from the pitch black darkness, two figures made out of fire rose up, the sound of crackling fire filling the air as the human-like creatures turned their heads towards Seungcheol.

 

It couldn't be....they looked like...

Hoshi and Woozi?

 

"Wha--Ho, Hoshi? Woozi, what the fuck is that?!" Seungcheol shouted as he clamored back, away from the monstrous beings but there was nowhere to run. There was a wall behind him and in the darkness, he couldn't find his way.

Just then, he saw more creatures, more beings similar to the first two, rising up from the apparent floor. With their fire illuminating the dark space, he watched as each of them looked at Jeonghan, waiting for something. Then, it clicked to him. Just like how he was the Alpha for Seventeen...

Jeonghan was the Alpha for these creatures.

"What's wrong, Cheol? You know all of them. They're the people who you robbed off their lives." Jeonghan said as one of the figures came behind him, snuggling on his shoulder.

"Today is the day. You'll pay for what you did." Jeonghan said coldly and Seungcheol grunted, rising up on his feet and glaring to Jeonghan.

"Go." Jeonghan whispered and all at once, the creatures ran towards Seungcheol, their long limbs moving swiftly and grabbing on Seungcheol.

"AGHHHHHH!"

Jeonghan turned around as the fire creatures piled on Seungcheol and the leader's voice disappeared under all the crackling fire and sounds that escaped the creature.

"You're not real." Jeonghan said to the fire being that hugged him.

"I'm not." The fire being resembling Joshua replied. Jeonghan let out a huge breath and hugged the being.

"I love you. How can I live without you?" Jeonghan whispered and the being pressed a palm on his heart.

"Fire will always be a part of you. And so will I. So will all of us. You can't throw me away so easily, Jeonghan." Fire Joshua replied and Jeonghan held his hands.

"I wish I never abandoned you. Why can't we have more time? Why does everything have to be so sad?" Jeonghan whispered and the being in front of him hummed.

"Whatever the world is, whenever the time is. We'll find each other. Always."

"Read me that poem again." Jeonghan requested and Joshua nodded his head.

 

 

_And suddenly we see_

 

_That love costs all we are_

 

_And will ever be._

 

_Yet it is only love_

 

_Which sets us free._

 

 

"I love you, Yoon Jeonghan." Joshua finished and Jeonghan nodded his head.

"I love you too."

"You must leave. This is not the place for you." Joshua said hurriedly and Jeonghan stared at him.

"This isn't the place for you either." Joshua simply closed his eyes and pushed Jeonghan forward, past a suddenly emerging gateway.

"Don't forget." Joshua said softly as Jeonghan was pushed past the barrier and into the real world.

***

"Wha--"Jeonghan stunned.

The whole mansion was on fire and it was apparent it was his, the blue and green of the flames reflected in his eyes. Yet what startled him was Dino, leaning leisurely against the bookshelf, staring at Seungcheol's frigid body on the floor with a mild interest.

"Dino, you--"

"Run, Jeonghan. All of them have discovered the truth. They're waiting for you at the bar. There's no need for you to stay here." Dino replied nonchalantly but something about those eyes and those words sounded...odd.

He wasn't Dino. That was for sure.

"Who are you?" Jeonghan asked instead and the man shrugged.

"I'm no one. I've been given many names but in truth, I'm no one. I have something to take from this man and it is best if you're not around."

"What did you do to Dino?!" Jeonghan yelled as he rushed forward but one raise of the man's hand and Jeonghan found himself frozen, and the flames around him extinguished.

"I'm merely using his body as a vessel. His soul will return when I'm done. I'll make sure he'll return to you in one piece. You should know that not many people who angered me survive to live another hour...." He trailed off and suddenly, the air felt thick and disappearing.

Jeonghan was suffocating, the air was not enough, just wha--

"Run, Jeonghan. Don't make me say it twice." The man repeated and sparing one last look at the man, Jeonghan did just that.

Jeonghan was out of the mansion when he looked back and crazily enough, he could make out four figures, a tall man, a slender woman and two little children staring at him from the balcony.

They were waving goodbyes and Jeonghan waved back.

"I love you, omma. Appa. Mirae. Jisoo. I'll always love you."

His eyes teared up and he wiped them away furiously as he moved one foot in front of the other, away from the only place he had ever called home.

He needed to go to his new family, the ones who will be his new home.

**

"Stop." Dino voiced and the fire creatures clamoring Seungcheol stopped at once. With a single glare from the man, the creatures dissolved into thin air.

The darkness suddenly turned into a white room with nothing in it except for Seungcheol, his clothes ripped off and his body marred with wounds and scratch marks.

"Dino. What, how.." Seungcheol stuttered and Dino tilted his head.

"I'm not Dino. Remember?" Dino said as he closed his eyes.

In place of Dino, a tall, good-looking man appeared with wings bigger than Dino's and as black as those eyes with snake-like pupils.

"You!" Seungcheol gasped and he turned to run away but the monster captured his feet with black vines of thorns instantly.

"It's time to pay, little Cheollie. I made your wish came true, remember? To change Jihoon and Soonyoung from Alphas to normal people. How long has it been...three years? I've told you a time will come when you pay, didn't I?" The devil laughed and Seungcheol stared at him with wide eyes.

"But...but the contract..."

"Stated that I can take my payment once every SEVENTEEN member is gone. And will you look at that? None of the members have their signas anymore. You must be a very hated person." It cackled and Seungcheol felt his heart plunging to the ground.

"As payment, I will take your life here. And as punishment for your sins..you will be reborn." The devil smirked.

"You will love others more than yourself. People will call out your name in adoration and they will talk about you in excitement. But the road will be rough and hard. You will struggle. You will feel lonely, hopeless, tired and you will want to give up. But you can't. Because you can't bear to see people disappointed in you. You will love those who love you more than you can bear. That's your punishment. Will you accept it?"

"Will they be there?" Seungcheol asked and the devil raised his eyebrow, slightly surprised.

"You're not in a position to make demands, n--"

"If they're with me..." Seungcheol cut in, taking a deep breath.

"If they're with me, I'll accept it." Seungcheol said and the devil frowned.

"There's still love in you? After all this time I've been working to make you the worst sinner, you still have love inside you." The devil muttered and Seungcheol simply stared back defiantly.

"Fine. They'll be with you. Now it is time. I'll take my payment now." The devil announced and Seungcheol closed his eyes.

 

_Jeonghan_

_Jisoo_

_Junhui_

_Soonyoung_

_Wonwoo_

_Jihoon_

_Minghao_

_Mingyu_

_Seokmin_

_Seungkwan_

_Hansol_

_Chan_

 

_When we meet again, I won't let anyone hurt you._

 

_Not myself, not yourself._

 

_No one._

 

 

**It's crazy. He should've sink to the lowest of Hades. Humans can form such a strong bond. I never knew that. I guess that's my mistake.**

******

**EPILOGUE ******

Five years later...

"Yah, I told you don't put in the gochu--ah, we're dead." Mingyu sighed as Hansol grinned, clearly not caring that he had just ruined Mingyu's kimchijiggae in one singular move.

"Set up the table already!" Chan yelled once he finished arranging the tables into one long row.

"Um, sure maknae. _We_ should do it." Seungkwan teased as he hurried to the tables to set up the cutleries.

"Ah, hyung~ I don't mean it that way..." Chan whined as Seungkwan continued to tease him.

"Move away, move away!" Jun yelled as he rushed towards the table, holding a huge pot of seafood stew in his hands.

"Wahhhh, this is breath-taking?" Seokmin commented with his most exaggerated expression, causing ripples of laughter to echo in the dining room.

Kringggg! Kringgggg!

"Someone is at the door?" Mingyu piped up and Wonwoo rolled his eyes.

"Sure is, genius. I'll go take a look." He said as conversations started again and the noise increased in miliseconds.

"Who is there?" Wonwoo asked as he opened the door.

A bouquet of zinnias greeted him and when he looked up, his eyes widened instantly.

"Hyung."

"Hi there, Wonwoo." The guest chuckled.

"Guys!! JEONGHAN HYUNG IS HERE!"

The kids scrambled over themselves to get to the main door and Chan was the first to hug Jeonghan, his white wings fluttering excitedly. "I missed you so much." Chan muttered and Jeonghan almost sobbed right then.

"Chan, whose baby are you?"

"If I say Jeonghan hyung...will you stay?" The question was innocent and every pair of eyes focused on Jeonghan. With a light laughter, Jeonghan ruffled Chan's hair.

"Little brat, even if you don't, I'll stay." Jeonghan replied and the whole group rushed to hug him tightly.

"Okay, okay guys, stop. Stop it! I can't breathe!" Jeonghan laughed out and the group loosened their tight grip.

"It's been five years, hyung..." Minghao said softly.

"I'm here now. Everything will be fine."

He believed those words.

Looking at the boys in front of him, he believed every single word of what he said.

_Joshua, I think living in this world with these boys is doable. I'll spend all my hours with you in our next lives._

_In our next lives... let's not play with fire._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is done! And actually this is my first fic so I'm really sorry if it's not any good, i just decided on this story on a whim and the storyline keeps changing as i write it so meh.


End file.
